FACTS
The 1890's represented a boom period in distillery development in Scotland and in 1898, BenRiach distillery was built by John Duff, on the same grounds as Longmorn distillery, in the North-East region of Morayshire. Unfortunately, in 1900, the whisky industry suffered a crash resulting in the closure of many distilleries, including BenRiach. Although their floor maltings remained in constant production, to supply Longmorn, it wasn't until 1965 that the distillery re-opened.
With a growth in demand for Scotch whisky in the US, the 1960's saw another boom period for the whisky industry and also the re-opening of BenRiach distillery by Glenlivet Distillers Ltd. In 1972, BenRiach began producing peated malt, a style which it still produces today, along with its unpeated styles. In 1978, it was purchased by Seagrams who stepped up production and by 1985, had doubled the number of stills from two, to four. Although the distillery was open for many decades, it was only in 1994 that they released their first single malt, a 10 year old 'The BenRiach', limited to just a few hundred cases per year.
Seagrams was acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2001 and production was reduced to just three months of the year. It was mothballed in 2002. In 2004, the distillery was acquired by an independent consortium lead by Billy Walker. Production began immediately leading to an almost uninterrupted inventory and the release of 5 new bottlings namely, the No Age Statement 'Heart of Speyside', a 12, 16 and 20 year old and a 10 year old peated whisky, Curiositas.
From this point, the distillery grew from strength to strength. It won 'Whisky Distiller of the Year' at the Icons of Whisky awards in 2009; it filled ten thousand casks of single malt in one year in 2011; in 2012, it restored its malting floors and starting its own maltings, and achieved the award of 'Global Whisky Distiller of the Year' at the 2015 Icons of Whisky Awards. With all it's success, The BenRiach was taken over by Brown-Forman Corporation in 2016 along with The GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh distilleries, with Dr. Rachel Barrie being the Master Blender for all three distilleries.
The BenRiach is one of the most experimental distilleries in Scotland and in addition to their range of peated and unpeated expressions, ranging from 10 to 35 years old, they offer a wide range of cask-finished whiskies, from moscatel to rioja, claret to tokaji, and always have new and exciting releases such as their annual batch of single casks to their batches of both peated and unpeated cask strength whiskies. There's something for all tastes and imaginations. Here, we have a 2007, 12 year old peated PX single cask which was bottled exclusively for Whisky Brother in South Africa. It was one half of a duo of single casks released together, the other being a 2007, 12 year old peated Rum single cask. The two whiskies were filled into casks and bottled at roughly the same time and thus display the effect of different woods, on the identical distillate, very well. First, the PX cask...
Whisky/ Year: The BenRiach 2007 12 year old Peated Pedro Ximénez single cask bottled for Whisky Brother, South Africa (2019)
Whisky Type: Single Malt
Distillery/Owner: The BenRiach Distillery (Brown-Forman Corporation)
Country/Region: Scotland (Speyside)
Cask Type: Pedro Ximénez (PX) Sherry
Age: 12 Years Old
ABV: 56.4%
Chill Filtration: No
Natural Colour: Yes
Price: R990 / $60 / £47
TASTING NOTES
Colour:
Dark Copper / Chestnut
Nose:
The nose is huge and starts off sweet with maple syrup and treacle. It moves on to dried fruit, mainly pears, and buttery pastry. There's alcohol-soaked prunes, raisins, and dark chocolate as well as marmalade and fresh figs. After the fruitiness comes dry wood, cherry tobacco, leather, and incense. There's a light peatiness and delightful, dry smoke entwined with mace and white pepper. With water, a nuttiness appears and the sweetness is more pronounced
Palate:
The whisky has a medium viscosity and is chewy and rich. The peat and smoke are more present than on the nose but still not intense. It's lightly sulphury and somewhat tannic, with woody and earthy notes and the spices move more towards nutmeg and ginger. There's bitter orange and more fresh fruit than on the nose namely, plum, blackberry, and date. With water, the mouthfeel goes from chewy to syrupy and the fruitiness is toned down
Finish:
The finish is long and warm, carrying through the spice, smoke, and rich, dark fruitiness
P.S.
The Whisky Brother team have nearly 30 exclusive single casks under their belts already and this one is another big hit. It's a superb whisky that can cater to many different tastes, with something new and exciting in every sip. It's not overwhelmingly peaty and as you can see from my tasting notes, it has a huge breadth and depth of flavour. Moreover, at just R990, you won't get much better value for this calibre of whisky, anywhere. I love it and I look forward to opening and reviewing the sister Rum Cask soon
SCORE: 8.5/10
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