A bottling from Ian Macleod from the Dun Bheagan Collection features in the second post during my Benromach Extravaganza. There’s really not much information about this bottling, other than the age and alcohol percentage. I’ve no idea about the cask type(s) or the amount of bottles that were released. Is it a single cask or a vatting of several casks? I don’t know. So let’s just taste and see what kind of quality we have here.
Benromach 1982/2001 (43%, Ian Macleod, ‘Dun Bheagan Collection’)
Nose: Certainly a tad dusty. There’s some chalk, a touch of menthol. Behind that is layer of fruit, albeit a bit subdued. Apples, oranges and apricot marmelade. A hint of soy.
Taste: Fairly sweet and sugary at first glance, but those flavours quickly gets replaced by a touch of wood smoke, a slight bitterness, some menthol again and oak. A bit flat.
Finish: Pretty short, with menthol and a hint of fruit (pears).
Rating: 84
I believe this has benefited somewhat from bottle aging for a while, especially in terms of complexity of the nose. But it doesn’t deliver enough on the palate to warrant a higher score.
