BenRiach 20 Year Old 1994 (cask 5626) Peated, Madeira Cask Finish

Benriach make some awesome whiskies, and they also release a lot if single casks to many markets, whisky shops, etc. You can not complain about the scarcity, of single cask bottlings, however prices are not quite cheap these days. One of those single casks release quite some time ago (bottled 2014), as part of Batch #11 of the single casks releases. The whisky was finished in a Madeira cask (A fortified Portuguese wine), which adds a nice fruitiness and sweeter notes.

BenRiach 20 Year Old 1994 (cask 5626) Peated, Madeira Cask Finish, br_199453.2%

Nose: Quite gentle with wood smoke and peat on top of orchard fruit, some flower blossom and  hints of new leather. A bit of dust and icing sugar too, which

Palate: Boom! this was quite a surprise after the lovely but, quite restrained nose: It explodes in your mouth. Much stronger and fiercer than I anticipated. Big leathery notes, as well as rich apricot and melon. Tropical and even spicy with an addition of yeasty Marmite on toast.

Finish: Leather ,and more notes of  sweet wood smoke , hints of green banana and dried apricot.

A fruity and smoky profile, that I find works very well here,There’s good balance between the two, and they seem to complement each other. Well done, Benriach.

Score: 89/100

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