52.8 % ABV, Natural colour, UCF, matured in 1st fill Bourbon and Virgin Oak casks, 2021 release, app. €50-€55
The revenge of the eternal underdog?
It’s relatively ‘easy’ to overlook a distillery like BenRiach. It’s never been fashionable or hyped in the same way like some other distilleries and brands. Furthermore, their story reads like a tale of seemingly always being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Opened at the eve of the Pattison Crash, it shut down again 2 years later, only to be reopened 65 (!) years later under ownership of Glenlivet and later Seagram’s and Pernod Ricard. It was a workhorse distillery first and foremost, producing (peated) malt for blends, although a 10 yo single malt saw the light of day in the mid nineties. To say this wasn’t a huge success, is understating things a bit, as production fell silent again in 1998. Saved from oblivion by Billy Walker in 2003, it seemed we would finally get the chance to explore and embrace what the distillery had to offer, were it not for the fact that in 2008 Billy Walker also brought Glendronach back to life, leaving everybody very busy marvelling over the resurrection/renaissance of BenRiach’s Highland sister distillery. Again, it seemed like BenRiach (not to mention distillery number 3 Glenglassaugh) would have to settle for the role of ‘the other one’ from the family.
And let’s face it: even under Billy Walker there was little in the way of a consistent core range. That is to say: there was some sort of core range, but it frequently changed over the years and was a bit all over the place in terms of quality and availability. Some were utterly brilliant, quite a few were a bit mundane. Even more so, their core range more or less drowned in a sea of - often very good- limited series and single cask releases. Fair to say, this lack of recognizability probably didn’t help to ‘establish’ BenRiach as a household name or a staple in many people’s cabinets. What certainly didn’t help either, was the fact that after the takeover by Brown Forman in 2016, the general consensus seemed to be ‘back to the drawing board’ to rebuild the core range from scratch.
Fast forward a few years. Under guidance of master blender Rachel Barrie a new core range has been established, offering reasonably priced peated and unpeated whiskies, ready to - once again – claim its place under the Scottish sun. Then someone at Brown Forman decides this might be the right time to drop the ‘unchillfiltered’ statement on bottles of Glendronach and the internet (or at least the whisky loving part of the internet) more or less erupts with outrage. The clumsy way of handling things by Brown Forman again didn’t help here either, sending standard marketing answers time and again to all and everyone who wanted some sort of explanation, when at the end of the day it was more to do with complying to SWA rules than anything – as was eventually revealed by a very interesting feature piece on Dramface. Even now, as that storm has also lied down, I’m still not sure if BenRiach will finally get a fair shot at ‘proving’ itself to the wider community, because it seems the new rising star within Brown Forman’s ‘portfolio’ (I promise I’ll go and wash my mouth and my keyboard after using a word like that) might very well be Glenglassaugh, which, slowly but surely, is getting noticed and picked up by whisky enthusiasts, and deservingly so.
Hence why I dubbed BenRiach the ‘eternal underdog’. Sure, there are dedicated, loyal BenRiach fans out there, because they’ve earned their stripes in the past with some excellent whiskies (I fondly remember a few single cask releases, and if you ever find the chance to try the old 25 yo peated Authenticus or the 17 yo Solstice, my advice is: jump on it), but if you want to play with the cool kids, you’re probably better off showboating your bottle of Springbank 18 or the latest Ardbeg Committee Release.
So, should we reconsider? Let’s dive into this!
Nose
Sweet peat & smoke – washed out campfire and slightly medicinal, almonds / sweet nutty note, hints of red fruit, a wine note and through it all autumnal notes of earth, forest and leaves with some wet hay and a farmyard note. After adding a bit of water citric notes become more prominent while accentuating the sweet peat note.
Palate
Soft arrival, but then it becomes increasingly bigger and more intense. Woody, with a gentle bitter note (the virgin oak in action?) which sits very well in combination with the peat and dried fruit and apricot notes. A hint of vanilla adds some sweetness on a big, dry mouthfeel which is very mouthcoating before a second wave of ashy peat washes it away. With added water the wood, nuts and sweetness become more prevalent.
Finish
Long, peaty and dry. Enjoyable but nowhere near as layered or complex as the nose or the palate.
Final thoughts
I’m not at all sure what it is with BenRiach. They can be pretty hit or miss in my book. Coincidence or not, it’s often their higher ABV expressions (46% and up) that do it for me, while the lower ABV expressions have often left me wanting a bit. This one though, is scoring big time with a great balance and an interesting development! I will admit it took me a while to get there, but now I’m hooked on this. Big, yet also subtle, it demands both time and attention to reveal what it has to offer. Sip it ‘causally’ and you’ll likely miss most of the nuances.. Well done, Underdog! 86/100
Comments