Unsung Heroes or Downright Zeroes Episode 5: Benromach 15 yo

43% ABV, natural colour, UCF (according to whiskybase), 2016 release from ex bourbon and sherry casks, app. €70-€75

I’m ending this theme with what is arguably one of the most atypical Speyside distilleries out there. Benromach’s old school approach to making, well, old school whisky, makes them stand out from the Glenfiddichs, Glengants and Glenlivets of this world. It’s not that they don’t do ‘fruity’ at Benromach, it’s just a different kind of fruity. It’s more the sort of fruit that got left at the bottom of the basket, buried under all the pretty fruit, but by sheer willpower managed to escape, to go on and contract itself on an oil rig, leaving 2 years later to sign up for a spec ops training program, coming out top of the class. Gritty, tough and with plenty of character: it’s more that sort of fruity.

I’ll confess: Benromach is a bit of a darling distillery to me. When I first started to get into whisky, I was all about the peat. Being a college student back then, my budget was rather tight, so Laphroaig 10 would be my go to bottle, and if I could splash the cash, occasionally a bottle of their Quarter Cask or Ardbeg 10 would make its way home as well. Happily ignoring Speyside or Highland whiskies because, in my mind, Islay was the only place where proper whisky was being made, I was a walking example of Dunning Kruger Effect, and a complacent one at that. If it wasn’t for a local specialist retailer (Malty’s pro tip: if you have one near you, shop there as well, don’t just use Amazon or MoM or whatever online store you tend to use) who one day pointed me towards a bottle of Benromach Peat Smoke, I might still very well be walking around with Islay tunnel vision.

Initially I bought a bottle as a birthday gift for my old man (which of course was opened and tasted on the spot), but I was back in that store the next day, picking up a bottle for myself. It’s fair to say that particular visit has cost me a ridiculous amount of money, as I conceder it a pivotal moment in my journey. It was also (although mrs. Malty will likely argue otherwise) worth every damn penny, as it altered my appreciation and understanding of whisky for ever.

Since that visit roughly 12 years ago, I gradually evolved from being an Islay snob into becoming rather whisky promiscuous, and while I’ll probably always have a bit of a soft spot for Benromach, I’m not blind nor deaf for their shortcomings either. By which I of course mean that their core range of the 10 and 15 yo (not to mention their 21 yo) should bloody well be bottled at 46% ABV, with the words ‘natural colour’ and ‘non-chill filtered’ in huge letters written all over the label. They are not a hyped or collectible brand, bottles that tend to be bought for bragging rights, or as investment (who gives a toss whether + 2000 pound Macallans are bottled at 43% or 46%, or even 18%, after all), and if anything, they’re being bought- and drunk- by whisky enthusiasts more than occasional consumers. I mean, I picked up this bottle from 2016 just last year in one of my go to stores, and they have about 4 more of these on the shelf. So… dear, Benromach, pretty please with sugar on top, up the bloody ABV already!

Nose

Dark, rich spices (clove, nutmeg), woody and (vanilla) oily. Sultanas and dark chocolate over demerara sugar. Slightly dirty – earthy as well.

Palate

Dry yet full arrival, although on a previous visit I found it more viscous. Again rich and dark spices and wood. Sultanas, nuts and chocolate and the mild peat integrates nicely with the salted caramel and treacle notes.

Finish

Long and increasingly drying, with echoes of spices and soft peat, wood and chocolate.

Final thoughts

I’m happy I’ve revisited this bottle. It’s been open for roughly 6 or 7 months now, and as it didn’t exactly suit the heatwaves of the past summer, I didn’t as much as look at it. But now that we went from scorching heath in August straight into full-fledged November-even-though-according-to-my-calendar-it’s-still September, this is exactly the kind of whisky to bring some solace. In my opinion, the profile and flavour lie closer to the 10 yo cask strength versions than to its younger sibling, and, truth be told, the cask strength is often at least a fiver cheaper than this 43% 15 yo, so bang for buck wise, I can see why the 15 yo might get overlooked. That being said: really lovely stuff, this! Even at 43% ABV, it cruises its way to a handsome 85/100 in my book. Imagine what it would bring at 46% ABV…

Next week brings a new month, and therefore a new series: which NAS kicks ass?