A Full Case of Benrinnes


April 11, 2025

A Full Case of Benrinnes – Part 4/6

We carry on, quite simply…

Benrinnes 12 yo 2009/2022 (54%, The Dava Way, hogshead, 305 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: well now, this one’s rather vinous, almost like a carafe of Pinot Blanc in an Alsatian winstub, then it veers towards plums and some rather surprising notes of capers and even tiny pink olives. Ripe apples soon come in to settle everything down and bring a bit of order. With water: lovely, on apples, barley and chalk. Mouth (neat): more traditional on the palate, with garden stone fruits, a touch of green pepper and rhubarb tart. Some bread, and olive fougasse at that! With water: back to more ‘standard’ fruitiness. Finish: medium length, fairly soft, fruity and cereally. Comments: a few twists and turns in this one, which makes it charming and fun to follow.
SGP:551 - 84 points.

Benrinnes 11 yo 2010/2021 (52.8%, Liquid Treasures for eSpirits, Winter Edition, 1st fill oloroso, 148 bottle)

Winter Edition 2021? Goodness, we’re rather behind! Colour: full gold. Nose: all manner of cakes and some nougat. Orange cake, Jaffa cakes, amaretti, maraschino. Almonds and cherries—where’s all that coming from? Not that we’re complaining. With water: loads of beeswax, and the fatty side of Benrinnes comes to the fore. Mouth (neat): oh yes, excellent, marmalade, candied chestnuts, fig jam, peppers… With water: a splash of American orange juice (the reconstituted kind), but also some lovely bitter almonds. The amaretti are back. Finish: medium length, on oriental pastries or anything almondy really. Comments: ideal as your 5 o’clock whisky.
SGP:551 - 85 points.

I’ve got a sort of premonition…

Benrinnes 23 yo 2000/2023 (51.8%, Maltbarn, bourbon, 127 bottles)

Colour: light gold. Nose: citrus fruits of the finest kind, with chalk and limestone, cereals, a touch of mentholated and aniseed herbs, yellow fruits… With water: clay and wax join the dance… Mouth (neat): just superbly taut, lemony, herbal… How lovely is this! With water: same story. Finish: same again. Comments: a model of balance. The only flaw? I was expecting this. But where’s the surprise effect? I shall file an official complaint with the bottler first thing tomorrow morning—we can’t let this slide, I tell you.
SGP:551 - 90 points.

Benrinnes 2008/2023 (56.4%, Malts of Scotland, sherry hogshead, cask #MoS23028, 278 bottles)

Colour: deep gold. Nose: the sherry brings polish, old walnuts (again), dark cocoa, stone fruit pits, bay leaves, tobacco and leather… With water: brings in old metals, tools, coins, soot, even bone marrow and gravy… You could pour this over a burger. Truly. Mouth (neat): rich, energetic, all on cherry and peppers, including pink peppercorns. With water: the bay leaf returns, along with fairly spicy sauces—think sriracha, used sparingly of course. Finish: rather long, slightly bittersweet, spicy, oriental in style… Comments: a heavier style, but still very good. Let’s call this the Scottish-Arabic-Andalusian option.
SGP:461 - 85 points.

Benrinnes 12 yo 2009/2021 (58.2%, The Whiskyfind for Whisky Picnic Bar Taiwan, hogshead, cask #309666, 302 bottles)

Benrinnes 12 yo 2009/2021 (58.2%, The Whiskyfind for Whisky Picnic Bar Taiwan, hogshead, cask #309666, 302 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Nose: austere, simple, razor-sharp, on barley, sharp apple and limoncello. With water: plenty of flint, almost a hint of smoke. Mouth (neat): much fruitier on the palate, creamier too, on Spanish apple liqueur (why not?) and quince paste. With water: exactly where one expects Benrinnes to land in this setup. Lemon marmalade, earth, green tea, apples. Finish: long, taut, more herbal, though there’s a touch of honey and blackcurrant in the aftertaste. Comments: perhaps not one for a twelve-volume epic, but it does its job very, very well in its naturally lemony style.
SGP:551 - 86 points.

Benrinnes 10 yo 2013/2024 (54.3%, Dràm Mor, refill palo cortado hogshead finish, cask #9006063, 221 bottles)

In French, one would say “le refill c’est plus subtil”. Oh forget. Colour: Rolex gold (S.!). Nose: the finish has a moderate impact, let’s say it brings in touches of hummus and nougat, perhaps a few macadamia nuts and some rather vague tree leaves. And a packet of bidis. With water: those leafy notes become clearer still, alongside cocoa, chocolate truffles and the like. Mouth (neat): a grand re-entry of pear, in both liqueur and cake form, the whole lot coated in chocolate sauce and bits of roasted peanut. With water: back to that typical fruity balance. Typical of many Speyside distilleries, for that matter. Finish: medium length, easy, charming, without any real edges. Swiss milk chocolate. Comments: just very good, even if not exactly unforgettable (what are you on about, S.?).
SGP:551 - 85 points.

Benrinnes 13 yo 2011/2024 (55.6%, Fadandel, 1st fill oloroso hogshead, cask #11639/058, 96 bottles)

A small outturn to close this fourth Benrinnes series. People sometimes ask whether it bothers me to taste these micro-bottlings, and I always reply that I know no one who’d mind sampling mini-bottles from Malt Mill or Stromness. Or, for that matter, Benrinnes. As the great Greg Lake once said, c’est la vie. Colour: golden amber. Nose: we’re in Jerez but with mint, camphor, green walnut, sweet mustard, seaweed, bitter oranges, and a truly magnificent manzanilla. What a nose! With water: confirmed. There’s sawn fir wood or spruce, which adds a fun little ‘Christmas’ twist. Mouth (neat): utterly gorgeous, with taut, bitter tones that are simply stunning. This mentholated and mustardy coffee character might seem a bit ‘too much’, but in truth it’s highly entertaining. With water: lovely wood essences. Finish: rather long, resinous, slightly candied. Comments: the cask likely did most of the heavy lifting here, but it did so superbly. Hats off to the fine tree that was felled for a worthy cause. And remember, if you never cut trees, you can’t tend to and develop forests. I’ll add that it seems that Europe’s forests have never been so vast since the Renaissance! Still, it’s all about replanting the right species—but that’s another matter…
SGP:561 - 87 points.

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