A Full Case of Benrinnes


April 10, 2025

A Full Case of Benrinnes – Part 3/6

I really get the feeling that this 1971 Benrinnes from Cadenhead will remain our favourite Benrinnes for many years to come — perhaps even forever. But don’t worry, we’re not about to give up the hunt…

Benrinnes 12 yo 2009/2021 (60%, Fable Whisky, Chapter 4, The Ghost Piper of Clanyard Bay, hogshead, cask #307949, 309 bottles)

We had adored those labels – the whiskies too, it must be said. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: it’s simple, it’s lovely, it’s fresh, it’s efficient. Apple juice, pear juice, sunflower oil and freshly baked fruit brioche. A touch of pear eau-de-vie. With water: grist and apples. Mouth (neat): powerful, close to eau-de-vie, almost sharp, although that could well be due to the very high bottling strength. The cask must have been rather lazy, but that’s often quite enjoyable. With water: a little rounder, yet still youthful and somewhat tight. Apples and ginger tonic, apple spritzer, tutti frutti eau-de-vie. Finish: fairly long, without any particular development. Comments: it’s good, simple, efficient, a tad rustic all the same.
SGP:441 - 82 points.

Benrinnes 9 yo (46%, James Eadie, Small Batch, 1st fill and refill bourbon, 683 bottles, 2023)

All these unpretentious small batches are generally rather jolly and very good. Colour: white wine. Nose: the 1st fill brings a slight buttery, vanilla and toasted edge (roasted hazelnuts), while the refill adds punch and freshness with more apples, gooseberries, yellow plums and bananas. A wee floral touch as well (dandelion). Mouth: very fruity, though with a slight hint of paraffin. Melon, an odd note of raspberry liqueur, fruit brioche again, then mandarin. Absolutely nothing to complain about. Finish: medium length, a natural extension of the palate. A trace of banana foam in the aftertaste. Comments: not much to add, it does the job perfectly.
SGP:641 - 85 points.

Benrinnes 20 yo 2002/2022 (54.6%, The Whisky Trail Knights, Elixir Distillers, cask #42644)

Colour: white wine. Nose: we’re extremely close to the previous one, fruity, just a tad rounder if anything, with apples, white table grapes, bananas, gooseberries and melon. The 20 years don’t really show at this stage, but it’s a lovely nose regardless. With water: ground barley and a touch of chalk. Mouth (neat): fruity, almost verging on sweet. A bag of barley sugars bought at the fair alongside a pick’n’mix of lemon and orange drops. A slight herbal note in the background, though nothing too assertive. With water: remains similar, simple, fruity and very good. Finish: same story. Syrups and yellow fruit liqueurs, with even a hint of tinned pineapple in the aftertaste. Comments: a simple but high-quality fruity dram.
SGP:641 - 85 points.

Benrinnes 18 yo 2000/2019 (57.3%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon barrel, 150 bottles)

There were quite a few 2000 Benrinnes from Cadenhead, and they’ve been fine, fresh and fruity whiskies. Colour: straw. Nose: more citrus in these batches, along with a more mineral edge, on slate and fresh cement. With water: fresh croissants and a few weekly magazines, all with depressing covers (Trump, Putin, Musk, Netanyahu…) but this lovely Benrinnes lifts the spirits. Mouth (neat): excellent, very lemony, with a beautifully grassy side as well. Also brings a refreshing brightness. With water: lovely citrus once again and a wedge of ripe buttery pear—be it Hardy or not, pear it is. Finish: long, and even more focused on mandarin and pear, in perfect proportion. Comments: a cheerful, vibrant bottle, bound to be perfect this summer, slightly chilled and sipped under a parasol. We really ought to invent the champagne bucket for whisky (?).
SGP:561 - 88 points.

Benrinnes 10 yo ‘Batch 16’ (56.8%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, 446 bottles, 2021)

We have a soft spot for these Benrinnes batches, as the labels feature our two little comic strip characters from a few years back, Pete McPeat and Jack Washback. No idea whether we’ll ever find time to revive the series, but the Pete & Jack archives are still online. You could also spot them in Whisky Mag UK back in its glory days. Colour: golden amber. Nose: a wildly unleashed amontillado, walnuts, soot, mustard – one might almost mistake this for Ben Nevis. With water: glorious! Amaro, fino, walnuts, cigars… Mouth (neat): I reckon this is better than the earlier batches. Bitter oranges, green walnuts, nutmeg and cinnamon cake, tobacco... With water: a bit softer, with orange liqueurs, old yellow chartreuse, Bénédictine, coffee… Finish: long, candied yet bitter, but spot on. Comments: the kind of profile that could benefit hugely from a good spell of bottle ageing, tucked away from the light. Just saying. Cheers, Pete & Jack!
SGP:562 - 88 points.

Benrinnes 21 yo 1995/2017 (55.8%, The Golden Cask, cask #CM241, 290 bottles)

By the House of Macduff. Let us remember that in those years, Benrinnes was still undergoing partial triple distillation, though I must humbly confess I never looked too closely into the matter. Were they redistilling the foreshots and feints before reintroducing them? Colour: gold. Nose: waxes, oils and fats galore, and it’s utterly splendid. Sesame oil, pistachio oil, goose fat. The rest is shared between apple and barley. With water: it soars into all sorts of fresh fruits. Mouth (neat): a slight perfumy edge (now musk remains unmentionable lest WF towers get blown up), then blood oranges and mandarins, all coated in a perfectly fatty texture, almost Clynelish-like. With water: a fruit salad whipped up by a three-starred chef. Finish: same brilliance. Comments: Golden Cask? Never has a series lived up to its name so gloriously.
SGP:651 - 90 points.

Benrinnes 19 yo 2003/2023 (50%, Hunter Laing, Old Malt Cask, 25th anniversary, Canasta butt, 536 bottles)

I suspect you're wondering what exactly a ‘Canasta butt’ is, as Canasta to me is a card game. Well then, if you know, do tell. Right, I’ve checked on Google… Apparently it’s a cream sherry from William & Humbert, so a blend of dry palomino and sweet PX (around €12 a bottle). Let’s move on… Colour: gold. Nose: starts off with a box of spent matches and cooked cabbage, then shifts towards green fruits and damp earth, leek soup and truffle. Finally, a bit of orange zest. With water: improves, showing truffle soup, foie gras and honey. Mouth (neat): the burnt edge returns, along with gunpowder, bitter orange and cabbage soup… With water: not much change this time. Finish: rather long, still a little ‘burnt’. Sulphur, of course. Comments: a truly oddball thing. Probably Hunter Laing’s way of reminding us they’re human too, and can get it wrong on occasion. That said, I wouldn’t trade a bottle of Ardnahoe for three pallets of this utterly bonkers Benrinnes. But good fun nonetheless…
SGP:372 - 70 points.

See you again with more Benrinnes (and hopefully a little less sulphur) ...

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