BenRiach 15yo Pedro Ximenez Finish

So far I’m not very familiar with BenRiach. I’ve only tasted some of their peated expressions, and none of them really impressed me. So I didn’t have high hopes when I received this sample from a friend, even though it’s significantly different from a what I’ve had from this distillery before. It’s been sitting in a drawer for almost four months, but yesterday it felt like the right whisky to drink.

BenRiach 15yo PX Finish (46%, OB)

Nose: It starts off dusty and dirty, but then transforms into aromas of caramel, cotton candy and cane sugar. It also has some vanilla and the smell of malted barley is omnipresent. It is very rich and sweet.
Taste: There’s a lot of herbs and spices here, mainly mint. Some liquorice as well. Then a soapy off-note presents itself. Not good. The influence of the PX finish is a lot less noticeable on the palate.
Finish: A warming, medium finish. Starts of bitter and dry and finishes with a cherry taste.

Rating: 83

Not a bad whisky at all, but it feels a bit unbalanced. The taste and finish are lot less satisfying than the nose is.

Picture: Flickr/Martyn Jenkins

Thijs Klaverstijn

Thijs is a spirits writer and accredited liquorist from The Netherlands. He runs the blog Words of Whisky and contributes to a number of Dutch and international publications.

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