A duo of Benromach, from 10 to 50 years old


September 23, 2024

A duo of Benromach,
from 10 to 50 years old

It really is the season of the old glories, starting from the dazzling Whisky Show in London to Whisky Live Paris and probably right up until Christmas. 40 years, 50 years, 60 years or more... With a bear market, it’s also likely more than time for the owners to try and get the most out of them. Many are still presented in relatively elegant decanters, like Benromach’s new 50-year-old that we’ll be tasting today, while others are so ridiculous and over-the-top that neither Bollywood, Vegas, nor maybe even Changi or Heathrow Terminal 5 would want them. Although, at Terminal 5... And you? You’d just be terrified of the consequences if you accidentally sat on one.

A new Neo-Brezhnevian decanter. It's real!

Right then, first an aperitif please, to recover from these devastating thoughts...

Benromach 10 yo 2013/2024 'Contrasts: Virgin Oak' (46%, OB, virgin American oak matured)

Like many others, Benromach is releasing some younger expressions showcasing various cask types. The very good news is that Benromach doesn’t only rely on such releases. With virgin white oak, one would expect banana and coconut, wouldn’t they… Colour: full gold. Nose: indeed, banana and coconut, with vanilla, orange blossom brioche, papaya, wormwood, followed by a hint of tin, white asparagus, broken branches, spearmint, and a rather restrained touch of new wood. It’s elegant, well-managed, even if the more natural, wilder side of the distillate has been softened by the treatment, or so it seems. Mouth: the wood is more present, with pencil shavings, fir sawdust, and over-brewed green tea. Orange and that banana reappear to offset things a bit, later joined by shortbread and even a touch of butterscotch. Phew. Finish: medium length, with more ginger and turmeric, and a rather obvious bitterness. I’d say that’s the wood again. Some orange liqueur swoops in at the last minute to restore balance. Comments: a tricky exercise, especially as the casks don’t seem to have been of the ‘heavy char’ type. It’s come out well, very well even, and is certainly better than last year’s Bordeaux Finish.
SGP: 461 - 84 points.

Benromach 50 yo 1972/2023 (54.6%, OB, first fill sherry finish, 248 bottles)

Benromach 50 yo 1972/2023 (54.6%, OB, first fill sherry finish, 248 bottles, 2024)

I absolutely adore their four pillars that form some kind of motto, ‘Barley, Water, Yeast, People’. Sure, time might be missing, but it’s still so much nicer than ‘Wood, Wine, Char, Speed’, in my humble opinion. There was already a splendid 50-year-old from 1969/2019 (WF 91) and even a 55-year-old from 1949/2005, which I found slightly more tired at the time (WF 88), while grumbling about its exorbitant price of £3,000, back then! This time we’re well over €22,000, but honestly, the latest Toyota Yaris is really quite ugly, so it's a no-brainer. But let’s stop talking about price, that’s vulgar, and taste this probable little marvel, distilled back when the DCL was still running the show before closing the distillery in 1983, along with many others, until it was revived and relaunched by Gordon & MacPhail… Colour: pale amber.

Nose: it’s splendid, and to be honest, it reminds me of other old glories from G&M with high ABV (Glen Grant, Glenlivet, etc.) to the point that I wonder if what we have in our glass isn’t actually some of G&M’s old stock. Sublime oranges, in liqueur or natural, dark honey (they tend to have more aroma than lighter ones, generally speaking), ancient furniture polished for centuries, old leathers and fabrics, then floral jellies and those English tobaccos we’ve always loved. It’s like stepping into Dunhill’s shop in London in the very decade this beauty was distilled. With water (just three drops, no more): orange blossom cake and honey. Sublimely simple. Mouth (neat): incredible and, quite frankly, very ‘old G&M’. That very refined oak, hints of cedar, ripe fruits (simple apples), cinnamon biscuits, touches of varnish and tobacco, that mead from the Breton countryside or elsewhere… With water: a tiny spoonful of wild strawberry jam and a micro grain of salt – I’ll leave the origin up to you. Splendid. Finish: at this age, a touch of tannicity is inevitable in the finish, with pine needles, black tea, and even darker chocolate. Tobacco, peaches in syrup, and honey then sign off beautifully. The light sherry finish did its job well. Comments: please don’t take my word for it when I speculate about old G&M stock—it’s just my musings.
SGP: 561 - 93 points.

(Thank you, S.)

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