Benriach The Smoky Twelve

The nose is intense and fruity, dried apricot jam, juicy peaches, integrated wet soil-like earthy peat, musty, smoked vanilla, baking spice, smoked fruits like lemon and pineapple, shortbread, quality grape spirit, sweet mandarines/tangerines, old leather, sweet winter wood smoke and my mom’s roasted pork with prunes and grapes in brown souce. Lovely. The palate is a bit more simple but it has very nice oily but smooth texture with notes of umami, more peat than on the nose, sweet cigar tabacco, santalwood, black pepper, roasted peanut and candied oranges. Finish is medium to long, starts with creamy buttery peat and ends with mixed ripe fruits. Overall I might be sentimental about this whisky because it was my birthday present just after I have visited the city of Marsala in Sicily, but it is an amazing dessert whisky for the whole year. I have always loved finishing my flights with this one bcs of the sweet&peat factor and the complex but smooth character. The marsala is definitely there and adds to the experience with the highland peat and the speyside character. The nose is complex and exciting, notes like dried apricot jam, smoke vanilla, tangerines and my mom’s roasted pork with prunes and grapes in brown souce. Oily but smooth on the palate, musty and it tastes older than 12 years and after a subtle hit of peat you stay with mixed fruits on the finish. I will miss this bottle from my shelf and let’s see if i can replace it with something or i just have to buy another bottle of this. In comparison with • Tullibardine The Murray Marsala Cask Finish 2006-2018 - No peat here but still the marsala clearly works in both whiskies. This one maybe not that intense and smooth but it has its own lovely notes. • Ardmore 12 Port Wood Finish - This one is much darker, bit more funky, more youthful, less integrated wood finish and more chocolate. • W&M Ardmore 12 2009 Tokaj Cask Finish - This one is interestingly the most different, it is much brighter, sweeter, younger and punchier with less wood impact.

I'm a little embarrassed by how much I love this whisky. I'm also a little surprised, given how good it is, that it only has a collective rating of 3.85 here. I'm going to talk a little about another whisky first: the Loch Lomond 12 Year, because there are similarities, and I understand, among the people that I follow here, that opinion is divided on the Loch Lomond 12 Year. So, some love that whisky, some seem to despise it. Last time I bought a bottle of the LL12 (for short), it was 35 dollars for a smoky budget scotch that tasted like an orchard bonfire with a slightly strange chemical medicinal taste in the finish that kind of made me see why some would dislike it and some would like it. It all depends on where your focus was and whether you could overlook that artificial aftertaste. If you could, you like it; if you can't, you don't. The Benriach Smoky Twelve I would describe in similar terms to the LL12. Orchard bonfire. The aroma on the nose is smoky. The smoke isn't quite as deep or overwhelming as an Islay scotch, but there is a decent amount of smoke on the nose with aromas of peach or apricot and vanilla. It's like LL12 only done better. On the palate, the fruit and vanilla is more prominent with a citrus edge shining through next to the smoke and peach flavors. The finish is moderate and leaves you with a smoky feel and a slight chocolaty note. Again, it's like LL12 only done better and without that sort of artificiality. If you though LL12 was promising but not quite there, you might like this a lot. I had a bottle of this in 2021, shortly after getting vaccinated for COVID and I had my brother in law to the house and we quaffed this. If you're looking for something smoky that isn't quite a medicinal as Laphroaig or bacony as Talisker or tarry as Ardbeg, reach for this. Might be a good gateway smoky scotch. Gotta be honest, I love this stuff and don't know why it was three years between bottles. Oh, and I got a $5 off coupon for this, so it was $61 instead of $66. Bonus points.

Upon nosing, the “smoky” presents moderately peaty with gobs of vanilla from the bourbon cask behind the sweet clover and mostly charcoal smoke. A touch of orange blossom honey and candied orange peel, no doubt from the Sherry cask, plus a tinge of dark fruit like Italian plums cuts through the cloud to hint at the Marsala wine cask influence. After an initial hit of honey and caramel sweetness, with a gentle pepperiness and some potent mandarin citrus pith, it transitions into a brief Tootsie Roll chocolate before becoming very ashy on the tongue. Fat, fast legs with heavy tears are few, leaving a misting of tiny droplets behind. The mouthfeel is surprisingly on the thin side, but not bad. The somewhat short finish is very dry, sooty, still a bit orange citrusy but with some lemon now, and just a tad tannic like iced tea but with a subtle woodiness or perhaps almond skins. Nose: 9 Taste: 8 Body: 7 Finish: 7

Nose: vanilla, smoldering meaty peat, there's also a classic speyside sweet malt note that comes through. Light honey, hints of berries, a slight dusty / earthy sherry. Palate: The peat is present here but gentle and light. Prominent notes of honeyed malt, vanilla, creme brulee. There's a slight suggestion of orchard fruit. Turbinado sugar, gentle baking spices. There's just a touch of blackberry jam as it transitions to finish. There's a weird—but very pleasant and welcome—note here of a fresh new book, paper, glue and all, its very marginal, but unique and fun. Finish: Peat is present here more than it is on the pallet, there's an oily oaky tannin here as well. A hint of dark sweet sherry.

An elegant, Single Malt Scotch Whisky by master blender Dr. Rachel Barrie for Benriach Distillery in Speyside, Scotland that is 3 casks matured for at least 12 years in bourbon, sherry & Marsala wine casks then bottled at 46% ABV. It has an aromatic birth with note of flamed orange peel, vanilla, raisins, fresh baked chocolate brownies covered in walnuts; while a rich life adds notes of Marsala cask, dark chocolate, brown sugar, wood smoke & clove; that led to a balanced death of medium length with notes of orange, peppercorn, almond & hickory. January 2023

Nose: orange, faint smoke, coffee, hazelnuts Palate: orange, peat earthiness, very mild smoke, chocolate. Medium viscosity Finish: malt, fruits, spicy, creamy As a peathead I wouldn’t classify this as “smoky” but the peat is noticeable and adds a nice backbone to the whisky. Even without the peat I think this would be an enjoyable dram; it’s not sickly sweet like some of its other speyside counterparts and I appreciate a nice citrus flavor in scotch. Would be a nice springtime whisky - not too heavy and not too light.