Benromach 25

Finally back at the Auld Alliance again. Such a crazy, crazy week...Something to sooth the nerves here...

Benromach 25 (43% abv)

Nose - Lots of pine and resin. Vanilla, oak, wood varnish, pencil shavings, then once the wood fades, lots of fruits. Apples, pears, peaches, maybe even a bit of papaya. All dipped in honey.

Palate - More of the same, but laced with a touch of spices. The fruits are really complex, coming in layers after layer of rich, honeyed fruity goodness. Subtle too, with the fruits, wood and spice so well integrated that it's a complete fruit salad in every sip. A hint of leather adds complexity.

Finish - A little short here. Oak, a touch of ginger, honey...that's it.

Overall - Classy dram, really. Great stuff from Benromach. Perhaps lacking a bit of...structure. In that sense, the experience of this dram reminded me of Redbreast 12, though the fruits are subtler and less punchy than the Irish one. Good dram, but perhaps not big, rich, impactful enough to be top drawer. Or maybe I just tend to like whiskies with particular stand-out traits.

Singapore Exclusive Single Cask Auchentoshan

One of the big whisky Events in recent memory is the release of a Singapore exclusive, 30 years old, single cask Auchentoshan. This was on sale for $888 at 1855 Bottle Shop's Wine and Whisky Week (with an Auchentoshan 21 as a free gift), and available for tasting at Whisky Live 2018. The people I went to Whisky Live with swerved this bottle, due to an inherent bias against Auchentoshan. Being a triple distilled spirit that is best known for being...smooth and innovative with casking, did my friends perhaps fail to give this old, rare, exclusive whisky a fair hearing?

They did not, but they were right anyway. I tasted a small pour, but actually poured most of it away. Was not worth my limited alcohol intake quota. Sigh. I should have known - if you can buy a 30 year old single cask and get a 21 year free, all for SGD$888, there must be something wrong. This is a country in which regulation Glenfiddich 12 is sold at $120. Oh, the disappointment.

Auchentoshan, single cask, 1987 vintage, Singapore Exclusive (abv 55.1%)

Colour - This is single sherry cask, so it is fairly dark gold

Nose - Alarm bells already. Sulphurous notes that sometimes come with sherry casks. Leather, meaty, red wine tannin, parsley, cloves, cinnamon dust, vanilla. This is...I mean, not unpleasant, but I don't know where the Auchentoshan went to.

Palate - Sherried, definitely. Similar notes to the nose, with more honey. Meatiness and tannins again. This was not a sweet sherry cask. The sherry fruitiness comes out, but more dark and preserved fruits than bright, fresh fruits. So, some rum soaked raisins? And a bit more cinnamon powder

Finish - Slight peppery tingle, lots of wood, drying tannins.

Overall - This isn't bad. But you can't taste the distillate under the 30 years of oak influence, and it wasn't even that active or dominant a sherry cask. Auchentoshan is perhaps a little too light to mature for that long a time? I think this reinforces my generally lower opinion of Auchentoshan as a spirit that is useful for drawing flavours from the cask, but is relatively bland itself. $888 for this and a bottle of the 21? I rather get 3 

Never Been to Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis is one of those distilleries that I really like for its distillery character. I think I've found my sweet spot - the balance between light peat, fruitiness, and a nutty, leathery side. So, that narrows me down to Springbank, Talisker, Highland Park, Ben Nevis, Mortlach, Benromach, Glendronach...usually. These probably are more likely to hit that spot for me, though there are many many honourable mentions everywhere, though in other distilleries, I maybe tend to like individual bottlings than the distillery in general. Hm. Only way to be scientific about this is to test many bottles.

Here's a bottle procured via Vom Fass.

Ben Nevis 17 years old, World of Orchids (50.5% abv)

Nose - This is really complex. Many subtle hits all round. Which makes it not very focused, but leaves lots to be explored. Smells oily on first nosing. There's also a touch of the sea on this. Kelp, mackerel. Citrusy too, with lemon and orange peel. There's a classy pine note on this, which mixes very nicely with the mint and eucalyptus scents, like nosing a Fisherman's Friend lozenge (supposedly something only my father's generation eats in Singapore. That's not true.) Give it some time, and you get some honey and vanilla. Pretty great nosing!

Palate - Big, big grapefruits. Plenty of seed oil. And wow. Big pepper punch. Fades to ginger and maybe some kind of chilli. There's a menthol and liquorice edge, and something savoury that reminds me of smoked salmon- without the fishiness (wait, is that still smoked fish?) Coconut. Turns a little bitter, unfortunately.

Finish - Mint, pepper, and a bit of seaweed. There's even a whiff of smoke at the end.

Overall - Good, really good. Not flawless, not perfect, but I really liked this. Perhaps not as classic Ben Nevis as, say, the Traditional Malt 10 years, or something, but still good!