Benriach Flight

Suddenly, like SBS bus service number 55, pigeon poop landing on your shoes, and other general things in life, whisky happens. Several in quick succession after a long break. Maybe it's overcompensation. Maybe it's fate. Maybe it's how the Norse gods roll.

A flight of 4 Benriachs today, from the good people at Auld Alliance. Then, several whiskies for tasting at La Maison. That brings us up to 10 whiskies in a short span of time. Whew. Gotta let my liver regenerate for the next week or so.

Lots of things to write, too little time to jot them down, so pardon the shorter notes, and lack of pictures. More notes from the tasting at La Maison another day.

Benriach 12 (abv 43%)

Nose - standard sherry nose on first nosing, and then develops into something floral and perfumed. Ripe plums, some spice, a soft malty background.

Palate - Mm. Initial impressions are pretty good. Sweet, vanilla, sherry, grapes, raisins. Then slightly malty, but all of this happens in a short stretch - the body gets flat pretty quickly, leaving behind a generic maltiness.

Finish - short, oaky, slightly spicy. Mm. Nothing too great. Easily forgotten, though it is quite pleasant.

Benriach 12 peated, PX finish (abv 46%)

Nose - Ok, first sniff, and this peatiness reminds me of Lagavulin. Some sherry behind it, but it's not obvious - more like a thin layer of jam than actual fruit. Jam that's not very fruity, if there's such a thing. Grassy and hay-y

Palate - Ok, not Lagavulin, though the peat is fairly deep. This whisky is surprisingly meaty, with suggestions of leather, a little drying, some raisins, and a fair amount of oak. I was just quite taken aback with the amount of peat in this. Grassy still. Hay-y again. On top of the peat. Hmm.

Finish - Hmm. Hard to judge this. Dry, again, oaky, spicy finish. Not too long. But everything here feels a bit indeterminate, apart from the grassiness.

Benriach 15 Tawny Port Finish (abv 46%)

Nose - My favourite nose of the bunch, maybe because it was the most predictable. Fairly porty and winey, but I think it comes across in a good way. Maybe a little too much like port. A little oak. Spicy, sweet.

Palate - Ripe berries. Mm. Cherries and strawberries, I think. Sweet, and slightly spicy again. Fairly consistent.

Finish - Feels more like a wine finish, with big fruits like an Australian Shiraz. Slightly drying, but really, more port than whisky, this one.

Benriach 15 Solstice (abv 50%)

Nose - Mm. The weirdest of the bunch. Hmm. There's the fruitiness of wine again, but drier. More...raisin than grape, but...like, before the grape has completely become a raisin. This is peated, but the peat feels...a little less burnt. Smoking grass rather than peat peat.

Palate - Hmm. Again, something seems off. First, the alcohol burn is suddenly very apparent. Then, the peat sits uneasily on top of everything, in my opinion. It isn't very peaty, but slightly smokey and again, it feels like what's burning wasn't completely peat. Kinda odd. There's the dried fruits, and that's been tainted by the peat, but not really merging together.

Finish - I don't really like this. Medium length finish, but more of that odd peatiness that I didn't appreciate but H at the bar said he liked. Odd one. The finish, not the H, bless him.

Overall - No, I don't think I'm going to like Benriachs after this.