Benriach 25 Year

Benriach tasting evening, Sydney, June 24 2019. Whisky #3 Nose: Tight. Tighter than a fish's clacker. This needs an hour minimum in the glass before it even thinks about opening up. Once the process (finally) starts you get tropical fruits, dark dried fruits, muscavado sugar, honey, red apple, a smidge of vanilla and a smear of rather nice aromatic oak. Palate: Tropical fruit and some tingly oak spices lead the palate, followed by several types of sugar and honey, dark fruit (plums, semi-dried figs, moist dates), cocoa, grapefruit and orange peel, ripe peaches and milk chocolate. The arrival starts a little sharp but very quickly gentles down as it continues through into the finish. The texture is just a little oily. Finish: Medium/long. Lingering fruit and cereal lead into a lightly drying aftertaste. The finish lengthens considerably as the whisky sits in the glass and opens. This whisky pre-dates the decommissioning of the floor maltings in 1998 (sob!) but whether its quality is due to the spirit being produced from 100% in-house malt or whether it's just aged well, who knows. Maturation was mostly in ex-bourbon but about a quarter of the spirit was matured in ex-red wine casks. In general the palate is similar to the 21 year old expression but here it is considerably more full and rounded and has a voluptuous and enticing character. The profile is an interesting combination of dulcet and woody. I'd not been particularly impressed with BenRiachs I'd tasted in the past, but this whisky definitely made me feel that I'd finally found a satisfying expression. At the asking price it's just on the borderline of value for money, but I'd not buy a bottle myself. "Very Good" : 87/100 (4.25 stars)

The nose is very oaky up front followed by guava, kiwi, Fuji apple and roasted plantains then light floral notes followed by cocoa nibs, figs and stewed plums that fade to light minerality, barrel spices, old leather and polished oak with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium-full mouthfeel starting sweet with caramel apple before an oak blast followed by guava, kiwi, Fuji apple and roasted plantains then spicy dark chocolate, espresso, figs and stewed plums that fade to light floral notes, barrel spices, old leather and polished oak with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with dark chocolate covered espresso beans, orange zest, maraschino cherries, vanilla creme brûlée, old vintage leather and antique oak furniture. This one was an oak bomb in the beginning but I followed @cascode advice and gave it around an hour to open up and allow those fruits to come through. Once it opened up, that oak was still very big on this one, but not a tannin bomb and more like walking around an antique furniture store with a tropical and citrus fruit smoothie on the nose. The taste kept those notes on the nose but brought some spicy dark chocolate and espresso that finished medium length with a nice balance of flavors. The price on these appear to be $300+ and I just can’t see myself pulling the trigger on this one. Still, it’s a very enjoyable oaky fruit salad with espresso that I’d like more of, but there are plenty of bottles that fit my palate better that cost far less.

Counting down the remaining samples..No. 6. Benriach 25. I was definitely not impressed on first sip but I took cascode's advice and waited for an hour and it definitely opened up a fair bit. Still the aftertaste is a bit herbal and bitter which definitely detracts. The initial taste has more of a green white pepper wooden caramel thing going on. I've never been a fan of the std benriach age statements and this doesn't really change things to much in that respect.

Nose: light honey, pears, rum raisins, cinnamon and light oak. Taste: heavy sherry notes with bitter almond and honey. Cinnamom and charted oak take over toward the end with a hint of marzipan and sherry funk. The aging lets the other notes of the sherry come out more beyond the fruity notes. After tasting the nose becomes sweeter with more toffee and dark brown sugar Nose after water is even more fruity. Taste becomes more floral and malty

Nose: Sweet sherry, squishy green grape, overripe red apple, golden raisins. A slight leathery note occasionally appears. The nose is fantastic. Palate: Surprisingly soft, dried stone fruit, a building spicy pepper. A little oakiness. Finish: Lovely dry sherry and raisin flavours. Cocoa appears some time after the swallow. Notes: I enjoyed this one a lot. It's pricey so not something I'll have all that often.

The eldest of the unpeated BenRiachs from my recent tasting event has a nose of freshly cut red apples. Like much of the range, its flavors start off soft, sweet and creamy. This one though takes a fruity turn mid-palate and then glides into a long vanilla finish, with a bit of oak spice. Exceptional blending ensures the flavors sing in harmony and shine in their individual spotlights.