I mean, Benromach


January 31, 2023

Tasting peppers and plasticine. I mean, Benromach

We've got three or four recent young Benromach on the table, I believe we'll do them upon ascending colour, for once.

(Photograph, the Distillery in 1958, Benromach)

Benromach 2002/2022 (57.3%, OB, for LMDW Antipodes, first fill bourbon barrel, cask #371, 181 bottles)

Gosh these 2002s are 20 already. Colour: straw. Nose: and voilà, 50% Springbank and 50% Longrow. Almond cream, lemon zests, lamp oil, paraffin, shoe polish, fish fat (salmon), garden bonfire, diesel, chestnut honey… I just adore this and shall reiterate that this sits right on the axis of good (HP, Clynelish, so Benromach in this case, Ben Nevis, Springbank). With water: a dazzling farminess, with the smile of the farmer. Sourdough, whiffs of leatherette, menthol cigarettes, grapefruit zest… Mouth (neat): tarrier, medicinal, very salty, smoky, a little rubbery, with some plasticine, Szechuan pepper, yellow chartreuse blended with some sweet chenin blanc (Chaume) and some lime tea. Very, very impressive. With water: better yet. Phenomenal proposition, with some oysters, mezcal, lemon, plasticine… Finish: long, perfect. Lemon skin, salt, wax, smokiness, you would almost believe it's Brora. Comments: exactly my preferred kind of whisky. I agree we're a little high (as far as scores are concerned, eh) but as a good friend once told me, 'this is your blog, you do whatever the f*** you want'. A little rude, perhaps.
SGP:563 - 93 points.

With pre-emptive apologies to all the others…

Benromach 10 yo 2011/2021 (59.2%, OB, for Van Wees 100th Anniversary, first fill sherry hogshead, cask #42, 300 bottles)

Van Wees are a highly respected Dutch importer, distributor, retailer and bottler. They are famous for their 'The Ultimate' range. Only good things to say and write about Van Wees… Colour: gold. Nose: it's doing just fine after the dazzling 2002, with just a little more 'mustard and gunpowder', a combo that's absolutely not unseen in sherried Benromach. Let's say it, many sherried Benromachs are a little sulphury, but you could say that's an asset and in any case, only a matter of style and taste. New wellies. With water: down to the core, brilliant! Grapefruit, mud, porridge, beach sand, game, grouse, truffle, sulphur… Mouth (neat): it's on a different 'axis of good', rather on the Ben Nevis to Fettercairn to Glenturret to Jura line this time. Meats, sriracha, hoisin, mustard, old walnuts, snuff, pepper, chocolate… With water: salty bouillon, lemon juice, a touch of horseradish, a muddy side… Finish: long, fat, waxier, saltier again… Comments: just a happy mess, feels a bit like France just now. In the own words of Aphrodite's Child, love, love love love.
SGP:562 - 90 points.

Between us, these Benromach are superb, only a little tiring…

Benromach 2012/2022 (60.5%, OB, for LMDW Antipodes, first fill sherry hogshead, cask #601, 315 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: crikey, it is the same whisky, just a tad toned down, perhaps a little more elegant and less exuberant. Less sulphur for sure, less grouse, less truffle, more oils, engine oil, cigars, pinewood smoke… With water: changes direction, uphill, towards Nuits-Saint-Georges. Old Bourgogne, ceps, civet cat, underwood, floorcloth, rabbit, cassis… In short, old pinot noir. Mouth (neat): very salty, with more olives this time, both green and black, and even an acetic side (balsamico) but it is 'too strong'. Mucho peppers and chillies. With water: but what a drop, once more. More green herbs this time, tobacco for sure, leather, cracked pepper, strong chilli sauce… This one is not for the faint-hearted, that's for sure. Finish: extremely long, very peppery. It's to be wondered if someone didn't add a bag of pepper at some point. Curiously, the aftertaste is a little gentler, even a notch 'sweet'. Sweet, imagine! Leathery and peppery signature. Comments: it's not a tasting session, it is a wrestling fight. Marvellous, the Van Wees was just a tad fresher and brighter. The bourbon one for LMDW was on another planet.
SGP:463 - 89 points.

Benromach 2012/2022 'Cask Strength Batch 01' (60.2%, OB, 30 casks)

They say it's 'made by hand'. We'll soon get up there to check all that. Not too sure about the casks here, they wouldn't tell on the front label, except that it is 'exclusively first-fill'. Oh, thanks! Colour: gold. Nose: really rather too strong, you do not get much out of it, you'll only burn your nostrils. Avoid at any costs. With water: a little sawdust, chocolate, pumpernickel, mud, horse dung (distant whiffs)… I find it pretty tough and rustic, they should sell this one at The House of Bruar. Nah, love it anyway. Mouth (neat): it sure hasn't got that sulphury attack, but it does have a lot of peppers of all kinds. Tastes good, but no chances taken… With water: yess! It's Moses saved from the waters, although I wouldn't call it Mister Gentle. Bitters, Campari-like brews, artichoke, abundant peppers, pepper oil… Finish: very long, on bitter vegetables, bitter oranges, Fernet, artichoke… And indeed, a lot of pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: great but tough, there must be something with pepper at Benromach. But I love it.
SGP:463 - 87 points.

Check the index of all Benromach we've tasted so far