Three cracking Benromach plus probably another one


June 5, 2026

Three cracking Benromach plus probably another one

(Visit Forres)

While we continue to wrestle with the highly seminal question of whether a Benromach bottled by Gordon & MacPhail, even one distilled under the previous owners, should be considered an OB or an IB, let’s sample this little trio. After all, that’s what really matters...

Benromach 2003/2025 ‘Small Batch Edition #1’ (56%, OB, first fill bourbon and sherry)

You understand, as stated on the label, this is ‘made by hand for genuine character’. We promise that it shall be ‘tasted by hand, for genuine opinion’. Colour: deep gold. Nose: an immediate burst of boot polish, almost military-grade, followed by orange blossom and marmalade. In the background, some drawing gum, oil paint and a little mustardy touch, all of it very much ‘Benro’, if I may say so. With water: here come the menthol and the resinous notes, the family is now complete. Mouth (neat): this is more Benromach than Benromach, with a trio of orange zests, pepper and mustard, alongside a salty edge and plenty of rolling tobacco, in the style of French grey tobacco. The boot polish is never far away either. With water: it is the oily, waxy side that takes centre stage, alongside the citrus fruits, and we can only insist once again that we are bang on that magical route, HP – Clynelish – Benromach – Ben Nevis – Springbank. From north to south, as you will have gathered. Finish: long, oily, yet lively and spirited. The little salty touch returns, together with the tobacco right at the very end. Comments: they seem to have wanted to offer a C/S sitting squarely on Benromach’s DNA, so to speak. Let us admit that it makes perfect sense.
SGP:562 - 90 points.

Benromach 2002/2025 (55.6%, OB, for Wisedrink China, first fill bourbon barrel, cask #365, 150 bottles)

As a matter of fact, we were kind of suggesting above that this ought to work beautifully with certain Chinese cuisines as well… Colour: white wine. Nose: far less exuberant, tighter, more compact, purer too. We find oil paint and paraffin, together with damp ashes, rather like being caught out by a summer shower in the middle of a barbecue. You get the picture. With water: grist, wort, baker’s yeast, ale. We are descending to the level of the raw materials themselves, and we love that at Château WF. Mouth (neat): simple perfection, perfect simplicity (oh S., come on). Lemon juice, pepper, ashes, salt. With water: a little rounder and fruitier now, yet with an utterly irresistible manzanilla side. Or dry PX (seco). Yes, we did notice it was a bourbon cask. Finish: much the same, the whole ensemble signed by lemon, green walnut, cider apples, pepper and salt. Comments: magical, top-class distillate. I know, we have been banging on about this for years…
SGP:562 - 91 points.

Benromach 48 yo 1976/2025 (43.8%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice Heritage Collection, first fill sherry hogshead)

In theory, this should be an unpeated version from D.C.L., since it was Speymalt, aka G&M, who decided to peat Benromach again after acquiring it in 1993 and restarting production in, I believe, 1998, as it had been in the old days. So then, is this an OB or an IB? Answers on a postcard, if you please. By the way, as we were mentioning above that magical route which also passes through Ben Nevis, we may recall that Benromach once belonged to Joseph Hobbs, who also owned… Ben Nevis (and Lochside, etc.) Colour: gold. Nose: what really stands out here is the waxy side, the furniture polish, the overripe apples, the peaches, and then that coastal character, tiny seashells, a few flowers, broom, dandelions, buttercups… In short, it is very lovely indeed, although it may not quite possess the kind of depth of the ‘modern’ versions we have just tasted. Mouth: ah yes, hold on, this is nevertheless extremely beautiful, with pepper, fruit skins, beer, a leathery side, gentle spices, nutmeg, mead… And above all that beeswax, slightly acidic here, this time leaning more towards vin jaune than manzanilla or fino. Finish: indeed, in the end we are not quite so far removed from the modern versions, there is substance, tension, spices, an earthy side, it’s slightly phenolic too… Comments: in fact, nothing tells us that D.C.L./S.M.D., in 1976, were not producing slightly peated batches from time to time, much as they were doing a little further north along the coast, beyond Inverness. Indeed that would be Brora. A magnificent bottle, superior in my view to certain 1976s or 1977s released previously. It sometimes seems to me that G&M manage their casks in much the same way as we eat our truffle fettuccine. First the pasta, the truffles later.
SGP:562 - 91 points.

How about a cheeky little bonus?

Glen Mosset 11 yo 2014/2026 (55.9%, Le Gus’t, hogshead, cask #1018, 298 bottles)

As you probably know, Glen Mosset is a trade name for Benromach. Strictly between us (hush…), independent bottlers have often complained that they were not allowed to use certain names, such as Glenfarclas, or sometimes Laphroaig, yet when they acquire or build their own distillery, they are often the first to do exactly the same thing to other independents. Funny how that works… Colour: pale white wine. Nose: cask impact is minimal here, we are close to pear coated in boot polish and then rolled through ashes, before moving on to ale and wet chalk. You are virtually touring the distillery in full production! Pot ale. With water: fermentation, wort, yoghurt, kombucha, bread dough, sourdough… Mouth (neat): but this is so good! Tremendous tension, linseed oil, lemon juice, firm acidity, ashes and tar, our famous boot polish, a few touches of fennel and aniseed, very ‘natural’ white wine… With water: it relaxes, fruits begin to emerge, morello cherries, apples, small pears, gooseberries, but also white pepper and a rather gentle chilli note. All of it watched over by our friends the lemons. Finish: much the same, then a peppery and slightly mustardy aftertaste of great beauty. Comments: irrefutable proof that this is a matter of distillate, not really of cask. The whole beauty of distillate-oriented malts. Indeed, the true grands crus of whisky. Well done Le Gus’t and well done Benromach (if Glen Mosset really is Benromach, that is – only joking, naturally).
SGP:562 - 90 points.

Check the index of all Benromach we've tasted