Benromach 10 Oak Casks, 43% abv.

The smallest distillery in Speyside, Benromach, which means Shaggy Mountain, was resurrected by IB Gordon & Macphail who wanted them to use old methods in distilling single malts as opposed to blended scotch. Supposedly the 10 year was aged for 9 years in 80% first fill bourbon barrels and 20% first fill sherry hogsheads and then a final year in first fill European Oak Oloroso casks. The bourbon barrels came from Heaven Hill and Jim Beam while the sherry barrels came from Bodegas Williams & Humbert in Jerez. The malt is also lightly peated, supposedly 12-14 ppm, using Highland peat. This is the first bottling (2009) before the design changes.

Nose: fruity, honey, grassy, oily, very light hints of toast that become stronger with time, bar cherries, hints of purple grapes.
Palate: light wood, a little sour, some honey, more like soured light toast.
Finish: short, light wood, light tobacco.
Dry glass: old baked apples, light toast, waxy.

An above average entry level dram, basically very good for starting, lacks the body and flavor profile needed as drinks get longer but I guess that's a good thing. Better than expected. Had this at Pavox Haeundae.

Grade: C

Whiskyanalysis.com, 8.69 ± 0.26 on 20 reviews
WhiskyNotes, Ruben Luyren, 89/100
Bestshotwhiskyreviews, Jan van de Ende, 88.5
Ralfy.com, 89 pts
Dramming.com, Oliver Klimek, 84/100
Whiskyfun.com, Serge, sgp:453, 87 points
Thewhiskeyjug, Josh Peters, 88
Whiskysaga.com, Thomas Øhrbom, 87/100
Whisky advocate, John Hansel, 88/100

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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