Benromach 15 Year

Rating: 13/23 N: Kind of light and possibly watery. Light sherry fruitiness. There's an underlying richness, but the fullness just isn't there. Cherry, apple, a little nut oil, a squeeze of lemon, a bit of mellow, dry smoke, and a little odd mustiness. It could be a pretty good nose if it were just fuller. A little bit of questionable meatiness with rock salt and faint pepper. Still, the fruitiness is nice. P: This is more woody, than I'd expected, with a bold sherry woodiness that reminds me of my bottle of North British 28 (1991) by Signatory. It seems a bit over-oaked, but there are some nice spices (clove, black pepper, ginger) with bitter oaky nuances and occasional, faint suggestions of vanilla adding interest. A bit of musty spice. There is some malty sweetness in here, along with some flint, but there's also just kind of a flat woodiness and something slightly sour in an off way. At times, I wonder whether that dry woodiness might actually just be smoke. I guess at least a bit of it is smoke, but I think it's mostly wood. It just hit me that a fair amount of that funkiness I've been trying to nail down is from a PX cask. It isn't overwhelming at all, but it doesn't balance all that well with the dry smoke. F: Remnants of the sherry, but only as part of the sweetness comes out. A. bold, somewhat tannic wood layer sits there. - Conclusion - The North British (17/23) is decidedly better. It's richer and fuller with less weirdness. This is a bit maltier, but it's more muddled and less interesting. I find this disappointing, but Dalmore 12 (15/23) is also better than this. The Dalmore is just a clean balance of malted barley with sherry and bourbon barrels. This is funkier, but it's out of whack, with weird combinations of flavors that don't really balance and a bitter layer that's hard to get past. With the Dalmore being a 15, I think that this is in the 12 to 14 range. That PX flavor is increasingly bothering me. It pains me to say this, but the clean flavor and balance of Monkey Shoulder (14/23) are a relief to taste beside this, though the youthfulness and ethanol do show with the Monkey Shoulder. This isn't too far off from the Monkey Shoulder, but I think I'd put the Monkey Shoulder a little ahead of this. I'm also inclined to give the nod to Benromach 10 over this. Although I like the maturity here, there are just enough problems that the more youthful but less flawed Benromach 10 is a little bit more appealing. I'm going with a 13 here. Benromach unfortunately seems to be a story of throwing everything in and hoping it turns out. They really need to work on targeting specific flavors and balancing. Thank you @ctbeck11 for letting me try this one. It's not to my liking, so you probably saved me from buying a bottle.

Review #075 Type: single malt scotch Proof: 43% Comments: aged 15 years, matured in a combination of 1st-fill bourbon and sherry casks Tasted after: first up Appearance (no score): Mahogany color. Swirling reveals a thick line sticking to the side of the glass, legs are slow to form. Nose: 16/20 Plumbs, raisins, vanilla, cinnamon, dark chocolate, subtle sweet smoke, old worn leather, and a hint of orange zest. It’s sweet, but also a bit earthy and musty, and nicely complex. Palate: 33/40 Ashes, bitter dark chocolate, orange rind, peat smoke, spicy oak tannins, burnt caramel, salt, and spent coffee grounds. Finish: 33/40 Medium-long finish. Its peppery, invoking flavors reminiscent of barbecue, a bit of baked apple sweetness appears along with some licorice as it slowly mellows out, ending with subtle hints of bitter oak tannins. With Water: A couple drops of water enhances the smoke profile on the nose and introduces some sticky sweet dark fruit notes to the palate. Total: 82/100 Final thoughts: This is a whisky that I think that surprises and punches above expectations. For starters, it’s not as fruity or sweet as I thought it might be based on the cask types and nose. Also the flavor profile and length of the finish are pleasantly bold, complex, and long for only being bottled at 43%. This is a solid bottle and nice slow sipper that I’ll probably eventually replace once it’s empty. Price: $95 Would recommend: yes Would buy: yes Scoring Legend: 96-100: The perfect dram, absolutely exceptional, nectar of the gods, I will savor this bottle and make it last, 5 stars. 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky, 4.75 stars. 85-89: Very good to amazing, almost the complete product, 4.5 stars. 80-84: Quite good, very enjoyable to drink, but doesn’t wow me, 4.25 stars. 75-79: Good, enjoyable but ultimately flawed, unlikely to purchase again, 4 stars. 70-74: A solid dram, but wouldn't go out of my way to get it, 3.75 stars. 55-69: Drinkable, 3.5-2.75 stars. Below 55: Suitable for cooking or direct contribution to the kitchen sink drain, 2.5 stars or less.

After a few glasses of this bottle that I opened couple of weeks ago I will try to give a proper review. I have been in quite a few conversations about the new design and it looks like I am the only one so far who likes the new design better than the old one. Of course it comes down to subjective opinions but there are still a lot of the old designs out there - so everyone can still get his / her favorite. I myself actually waited several weeks to find a retailer who has the new designs in stock. But to my knowledge the whisky itself is unchanged. I had a sample of the 10y before and really liked it. So I thought I can’t go wrong with the 15y. And sure you can’t. The first-fill-only premise of Benromach definitely adds to the experience. Nose: spiced dry fruits - cereals with trail mix - a very awesome mix of fresh, sweet and spicey - almost a bid salty - very rich - like buttered warm sweet corn with a pinch of grainy sea salt - then strawberries, green mango, raspberries, red grapes without being very sweet - soft chocolate flakes - also a bid like a fresh tapped beer (IPA-like) - only a hint of peat but so much that it definitely contributes a noticeable part of the overall experience. It is just so good. Palate: toasted dry spices of all sorts (juniper, pepper, nutmeg, cloves ... that kind ... with some salt) like the rub of a nice roast - plus a good bunch of dry herbs - more on the dry and less oily spectrum - plus a mild sweetness that nicely accompanies the spicy character and that makes it rich and very interesting - the peat gets a little more noticeable now. Finish: nicely woody - the spices cover your whole tongue and throat for a long time All in all a very great whisky if you like the more serious and spicy ones. I could do with a bid more smoothness / oiliness for a top tier rating. But nonetheless it is still a fantastic whisky that you can enjoy and analyze over a whole evening - it is that complex in my opinion.

I've been tucking into the Benromach 15 for a few months now, and wow, it's special. I couldn't quite put my finger on why initially, but after doing some digging (and catching the awesome Spirit of Toronto Benromach tasting last month) I suspect it partially has to do with the lower cut points in the distillation process. For their core range, Benromach doesn't cut their spirit over to the feints receiver until it reaches 60% ABV (much lower than average), and when you collect more distillate in this spectrum for maturation you start to get those hard-to-describe "feinty" notes, which I crave in a whisky: Leather, plastic, honey, dried tea and tobacco. It's heavenly. Another unique thing about the distillery is that they use some brewer's yeast in the fermentation process, which produces a cloudy wort and gives the distillate a malty structure that you can pick up across the nose, palate and finish. They also produce their malt to a peat level of 12 ppm, which compliments the sherry casks nicely. Nose: loads of red fruit - rasberries and stewed cherries come to mind; Frosted Cherry Pop Tarts; Caramilk bar, Maltesers; smoked fruit wood, BBQ sauce; jump rope handles, Tupperware, shoe polish; leather bound library books, distressed leather book bag; antique cello in a dusty old case Palate: Very malty, Maltesers, milk chocolate, subtle sweetness, slightly pulling and tannic from the sherried oak Finish: Medium, sweet and malty with a solid breath of smoke Memory: Procrastinating through the bookstacks of the John W. Graham Library at Trinity College while eating a chocolate bar for dinner that I got from the vending machine. Score: 88

The statement on the bottle couldn't be more true. This is a true classic Speyside in every sense of the words and after trying the imperial proof which is also great for a 10 year old malt, I was compelled to try this and my god what a solid malt. Color: Rich caramel brown that took in lots of the wood and is just mesmerizing. On the nose: Hints of toffee with slight coffee bean undertones while a series of caramel aromas begin to reveal themselves after a few good sniffs with air and straight in the glass. Down the hatch: This is where the magic of this malt begins to show it self. The taste is pure speyside and harkens to other popular counterparts like the Macallan and Balvenie of similar age rages. The oak here is strong, but the flavor is layered and lasts a while with a touch of sweet vanilla while the finish is silky smooth. Verdict: If you see it, get it. It would be hard to find a Speyside of this age range under $100 USD that punches in the same taste class as both Balvenie and Macallan. Such a job well done and not shocked since it is under the care of Gordon and Macphail after all.

Benromach has been a little dissapointing lately. I have had a few of their new expressions (with their new image and marketing), and it weren't as good as the old ones, with the almost flourescent boxes that showed a drop in the bottles. I have now tasted this 15yo release, that won its category on 2018's Workd whiskies awards. Bottled at 43%. On the nose, a nice mix between fruits and peat. Pears, grapefruit, stewed fruits, incense. After a first sip, i got melon, leather and hay. On the palate, starts with a chocolate; a little salty, pears and very nice grapefruit. Aftertaste was the best part. Smokey notes, hay, grassy notes. Tobacco leaf. Some sweet glazed pork finish, ginger and ashes. Very elegant. Overall, this was a little better than some of their new expressions (with the non-so-appealing white labels), specially on the aftertaste where the peatiness was right on the spot. It still is miles away from most great 15yo whiskies. My score for it is 86 over 100.