Finally, two weeks after the onset of a nasty cold, I feel sufficiently recovered to trust my nose with a whisky review (it’s 14th May today).
On the menu: two samples from the Benrinnes distillery in Speyside. One from UK independent bottler Chorlton, that I bought from Hop/Scotch, the other sample from my Single Malts of Scotland advent calendar 2022.
Quick background on the distillery: approaching the 200 years since it founding; owned by Diageo; mostly used in blends (J&D, Johnnie Walker); only official bottling is the 15yo in the Flora & Fauna range, so we rely on the indie bottlers to try this one in different presentations, and that we are delighted to do:
Together with Dailuaine and Mortlach, Benrinnes is a single malt which some aficionados try to seek out. The style is robust, heavy and very “old school” and the sulphury newmake matures very well in sherry casks, a style appreciated by many malt drinkers.
Malt Whisky Yearbook 2023
Hear, hear! But what cask type lifts the Bennie to the greatest heights in today’s showdown, sherry or bourbon?
Whisky review
Benrinnes 15yo 2006 56.2% Elixir Distillers
Single Cask #800214
3cl sample from advent calendar
I’m greeted with a fruity nose: banana chips, pomelo, fresh pears, and a touch of vanilla. There is also a some leather and shoe polish, and an almost pungent, meaty aroma. Interestingly, there’s also a herbaceous, grassy side. So, quite a complex nose. On the palate it is oily, savoury, and a little salty. In the finish, a slightly ashy note develops. Overall, a robust, and quite ‘adult’ dram.
⭐Notable Quality
My WB Score: 87
Whisky review
Benrinnes 14yo bottled 2022 at 50% by Chorlton
Single Cask • 10yr Bourbon + 4yr Refill Sherry Butt
25ml sample from Hop/Scotch for £8
Nose: buttery, crème brûlée, passion fruit curd, touch of smoke. A slight herbaceous and earthy aroma as well. Whoof! The taste is bitter-sweet with a powerful, fruity tobacco leaf flavour going into a lengthy finish. I appreciate that the sherry influence is not over-the-top raisins etc. Reminds me a lot of sherry-octave Dalmunach from a while back.
⭐Notable Quality
My WB Score: 86
It fun to see what the guy who bottled the stuff wrote about it. Note: my review is independent from these notes because I only read them after I wrote mine😊
And lastly we have a 14-year-old Benrinnes. This spent its first decade in a bourbon barrel and then the last 4 years in a sherry butt. I don’t usually do “finishes” but this was a particularly good sherry cask that I just had to do something with. It’s a little bit darker in colour than the photo suggests.
The nose starts with a soft waxy fruitiness (strawberry laces, cherry chapstick, banana chips) then a little earth and dried honey, plus something a little floral. There’s some buttered toast here, and a little savoury note in the background – not meaty really, maybe more like herby dumplings?
The palate has a classically sherried start, with dark chocolate, orange and coffee, before the fruitiness from the nose starts coming through (red berries, strawberry fondant). The development is long and quite complex, balancing some light fruitcakeiness with zingy fruits and then a quite meaty and salty aftertaste.
Adding water brings up tarter fruits (lime and yuzu syrup, rhubarb and custard sweets), and adds salted butter and a sort of honeyed grassiness to the aftertaste. Étienne (who you should all follow on Instagram @themaltcask) tried this and suggested it was a value for money bottle as you could easily spend half an hour on each glass! I always think of Benrinnes as quite a boisterous spirit, and there is a lot going on here to have fun with.
The cask produced 226 bottles at a cask strength of 55.0% and they are available for £80 each.
Chorlton newsletter
Well, no arguing who’s tasting notes are more detailed, but the guy had a whole cask to sniff!
Despite a successful sherry cask finish by Mr. Chorlton, this skirmish is won by the all-bourbon cask. I’m now quite tempted to seek out bottling of a sister cask if I can find it. Actually, one of my most prized bottles in my collection is a 23yo ex-bourbon cask Benrinnes from none other than Chorlton. I haven’t cracked it open yet, but I tried in at a pub in Edinburgh and it’s gorgeous.
With this booze, my sinuses are cleared and my nose had been reborn. Actually, the title pun is even better (i.e. worse) in Swedish—Benrinnässans—”näs-” means “of the nose”. Get it?👀
DuckDrams 
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