My S/O is into fragrances. I wanted a bottle of Tom Ford she had not been using, but she cleverly asked for a bottle of good Scotch in kind. A friend pointed me towards a new distributor that began to bring in Lady of the Glen, Dalgety and WhiskyBroker bottlings for very good prices in the context of the local market. The S/O has liked several Benrinnes IB bottlings before, so I figured this LotG bottle would be a safe choice blind. My personal choice would have been a Royal Brackla, but alas it was not my palate this bottle has to please.

Distillery: Benrinnes

Region: Speyside

Price: £76.95 at Master of Malt

Cask Type: Hogshead, then 1st fill tawny port

ABV: 57.8%

Chill-filtered: No

Color: 1.3, russet/muscat (natural colour).

Poured into a Luigi Bormioli nosing glass, then left for about 25 minutes minutes before being drunk neat. Mid-bottle pour.

Nose: Applesauce, date pudding, butterscotch, vanilla ice cream, tobacco smoke. Water removes the smoke as well as much of the pudding. It evolves the apple sauce to apple juice, and vanilla ice cream to vanilla custard. We also get lovely chocolate powder-dusted brioche now.

Palate: Viscous, slightly numbingly hot, chocolate mousse, chocolate custard, great but a bit too cloying. Water reveals a sweet citrusy fizziness like 7-Up or lemon sherbet, as well as a touch of macademia nut.

Finish: Tapers off quickly. Stroopwafel, Milo, barley tea. Water turns it more drying and tannic, and longer, taking on strong breakfast tea, walnut and dried cranberry.

Conclusion: Slightly hot, but at least its not unpleasantly tannic or chemical. I find hot drams especially unpleasant if the alcohol takes on unpleasant copy paper notes. Thankfully the heat on the palate is backed with a nice syrupy texture and sweetness. Pleasant, robust, sweet cask strength dram, but ultimately a bit simplistic in its presentation of the notes and cloying when neat. I particularly liked where the nose and finish with water is going, but ultimately what we get is the initial burst of flavour and not the lingering development of those flavours.

Score: 84

If it were named by the SMWS: Cross the Brioche When We Get There

H.Y.