Whisky Review: Rattray's Selection No. 1 19 Year Blended Malt

A.D. Rattray, an independent bottler whose owner is part of the family that used to own Bowmore, released a number of blended malts in the early-2010s that more or less slipped under the radar. Most of this has to do with the fact that anything with the word 'blend' in front tends to get a lot less traction with whisky geeks unless it comes from Compass Box, which in this case means that they really missed out. Getting a full strength whisky at almost two decades old composed entirely from sherry butts for under $100 would be almost unthinkable right now and was still a steal when it was released in 2010.

This whisky was constructed from four sherry butts - Auchentoshan 1991 (Cask 495), Balblair 1990 (Cask #1142), Benriach 1989 (Cask #50064), and Bowmore 1991 (Cask #2073) - that were married together and bottled at 55.8% without coloring or chill filtration.

Thanks to Michael Kravitz for this sample.

Rattray's Selection No. 1 19 Year Blended Malt

Nose: balanced sherry and mossy/ashy peat with solid intensity, savory malt, fresh baked bread, caramel, mild oak, and floral perfume. After adding a few drops of water the sherry is toned down, allowing the malt to becoming roughly equal, vanilla comes out, and it is much more savory overall.

Taste: a fair amount of alcohol heat through, sweet sherry up front, syrupy/salty with green fruit (apples, pears) and floral overtones in the middle, slowly transitioning into bittersweet with a prickle of peat and savory oak at the back. After dilution it becomes bittersweet throughout with more savory sherry and peat up front plus some ashes and stronger near the back.

Finish: lingering sherry residue, balanced malt and oak, wood ash

I really wish I had more time with this one. Even when I have a hard time teasing out the details, it's a really enjoyable whisky that neatly balances its constituent parts. It would be great if we could get more of these kinds of blended malts where peat is an element, but not as strongly as a full Islay single malt. With so few distilleries currently producing medium peated malts, this is one of the few avenues we have for enjoying those kinds of whiskies.

Whisky Review: Benriach Septendecim

Septendecim (a somewhat uncreative choice as it means 17 in Latin) was first released in 2012 and hit the American market last year. It rounds out their peated lineup, squarely in between the entry-level Curiositas 10 Year and the recently upgraded Authenticus from 21 to 25 years old.

Like the 10 and 25 year expression, Septendecim is aged entirely in ex-bourbon casks and bottled at 46% without coloring or chill filtration.

Thanks to Dave McEldowney of PDXWhisky for letting me sample this one.

Benriach Septendecim

Nose: mossy/smokey peat, organic/farm-y, vanilla, bubblegum, berries, grape/purple, oak, malt, fresh hay, smoked ham/fish, salty, freshly tanned leather. After adding a few drops of water it becomes softer, the peat becomes more mossy with the smoke holding on underneath, the oak and farm-y notes retreat and integrate, unripe apples and pears emerge, and there's a touch of anise.

Taste: sweet fresh malt up with fruit/berry overtones and hay in the background, slides towards building (but ultimately restrained) oak tannins, dirty vanilla, a hint of citrus on top, organic/farm notes, and mossy peat smoke at the back. After dilution, the peat becomes softer and spreads across the palate, showing up right after the initial sweet malt, the fruit and berry notes are pushed to the back, and the vanilla integrates with the malt.

Finish: sweet peat smoke, moderate oak, earthy, vanilla, whipped cream

One of the main things that holds me back from recommending Benriach's peated malts in a full-throated fashion is the fact that they almost universally seem to have very heavy oak influence. While the bitter tannins sometimes complement the sharp peat smoke, they can also throw the experience out of balance. Despite being 50% older than most of the peated Benriach I've tried before, Septendecim manages to achieve a far better balance, with the oak being a component, but not overwhelming the other elements. It also manages to be significantly better than the 19 year old single cask bottled for K&L that I recently tried.

While there are significant differences between the two, this reminds me a lot of Laphroaig 18 Year, with the same heavy vanilla component balanced with sweetness, oak, and peat. However, I like the Benriach better because the vanilla is less heavy-handed and it's not quite as sweet. Whatever the reason, Septendecim really hits the mark for me. As a bonus, it's quite reasonably priced, running under $90 in most parts of the States. Given steadily rising prices for older single malts, it's nice to see an independently owned company providing quality whisky at a solid price.

Whisky Review: Benriach 19 Year 1994/2014 for K&L

K&L is one of the few retailers in the US with a prolific single cask program. As part of that, they've been able to source casks directly from Benriach and its sister distillery Glendronach that were bottled by their respective distilleries rather than going through independent bottlers.

This particular cask is heavily peated spirit that was distilled in 1994, aged in an ex-bourbon barrel, then bottled in 2014 at 53% without coloring or chill filtration.

After it was discounted, I ended up splitting a bottle several ways with Michael Kravitz, Florin, and MAO, who should have their own reviews up at the same time.

Benriach 19 Year 1994/2014 Cask #7187 for K&L

Nose: lots of aromatic oak, cedar, dry malt with a salty edge, peat smoke, tar, fresh hay, berries, caramel. After adding a few drops of water, the berries become bigger and sweeter, but the oak expands to push the peat out of the way.

Taste: barrel sweetness throughout, big berries and stone fruit beginning around the middle and carrying through, rising tide of oak near the back, a bump of malt joins the peat that begins just before the finish. After dilution, the wood becomes more dominant and sweeter - pushing out a lot of the other character, some caramel comes out around the middle, while the oak is more tannic at the back.

Finish: oak, salty malt, lingering peat, seashore, marsh, hints of berries

This is a cask that I suspect was sold on partially due to the fact that it's right on the edge of being over-oaked. While less tannic than many other peated Benriachs I've tried, the wood is very present and almost overwhelms the other elements, especially on the nose. If you've tried Curiositas before I think the structure of this whisky will be familiar, though age has amped up the oak while reducing the peat. It's also hotter at 53% than I would have expected. Dilution softens it a bit, but reduces its complexity even further. Surprisingly for all the wood, there don't seem to be a lot of the other extractives one would expect from this kind of cask - the lack of vanilla keeps the overall experience somewhat sharp.

Ultimately, this one doesn't quite click for me. I like the elements, but not their balance. I far prefer the OB Septendecim - which I'll review later this week - which has more peat character despite the lower strength and has far better balance, while running at roughly half the price of what this single cask was going for originally. At $150, I expect a lot more nuance and complexity than this cask has to offer. Slightly further afield, the Chieftain's Bunnahabhain 16 Year that was picked for K&L rested on a similar foundation of peat and oak, but pulled off a kind of bombast that this Benriach doesn't manage. Ultimately it's irrelevant as both the Benriach and Bunnahabhain single casks have sold out after being reduced in price, but this has made me more skeptical of the value proposition represented by Benriach's single casks.

Whisky Review: Benriach Heredotus Fumosus

This is the forth peated Benriach I've tried and the third in their series of peated cask finishes.

This is the most classic in the lineup, using Pedro Ximenez (PX) sherry casks to finish the whisky. PX tends to be intensely sweet and concentrated to the point of being almost syrupy, so it gives a thick wallop of sherry flavor. While PX can sometimes overwhelm the spirit, Benriach tends to have a deft hand with their cask finishes, so this one seems more restrained than it could have been.

As per usual, this was bottled at 46% without coloring or chill filtration.

Benriach Herodotus Fumosus

Nose: thick peat and wood smoke snaking around balsamic vinegar, a solid layer of savory sherry, oily fish, dry malt, herbal, fresh pine needles, leaf mold, seasoned oak, coffee grounds, lemon peel, a touch of vanilla, diesel/gasoline, yeasty - it becomes a bit sweeter and more earthy plus cured meat, floral, and mint notes emerge with time. After adding a few drops of water, it becomes more malt-focused, with the sherry and peat integrating and fading a bit, plus more vegetal and yeasty notes.

Taste: begins with malt and sherry sweetness with berry overtones that is quickly trumped by heavy oak tannins and inky peat, with vinegar and mocha in the background, and the savory elements of the sherry coming in behind, then slipping into something more malty near the back, with lemon and orange peel overtones throughout. After dilution, it becomes sweeter and more balanced, with the malt and sherry gaining ground against the oak and peat, floral notes appearing near the beginning, and some coffee grounds show up near the back.

Finish: heavy oak tannins, vegetal peat, lingering malt and sherry

To me the nose is the standout here. While I've found that most of Benriach's peated whiskies have quite a bit of oak, it's just in balance here, lending weight to the peat without being overwhelming. While Benriach doesn't have the coastal elements that are often associated with peated whiskies, its own spin works well in concert with the sherry, giving a somewhat dark and brooding feel neat, then switching to a brighter mode with a bit of water. The palate is a little simple in comparison, but doesn't fall flat either.

Ultimately, I think this is well worth searching out if you like peat/sherry combos. The character is very distinct from traditional Islay whiskies, but I don't think fans of Ardbeg or Laphroaig will be disappointed. It is, unfortunately, rather difficult to find in the US at this point, but retailers in the UK and EU should still have it if you're willing to go for international shipping.

Experimental Whisky: Benriach 34 Year/Glendronach 33 Year Blend

My birthday whiskies from the last couple of years are just about finished, but I couldn't resist blending a bit of them together, especially because the two are now owned by Billy Walker (this could only be better if I had a bit of old Glenglassaugh to add to the mix).

How do these two old whiskies play with each other?

Benriach 34 Year/Glendronach 33 Year Blend

Nose: peaches/apricots, mango, grape/cognac, oily/creamy malt, hints of something green/herbal, gently floral heather,  solid but not overwhelming oak, light caramel. After adding a few drops of water, the fruit is toned down and the herbal/grassy notes become stronger, the malt becomes grainier, with some oak-y raisin notes coming out, making for a more austere effect overall.

Taste: big stone fruit notes throughout, a wash of honey and fresh malt with raisin undertones in the middle, that fades into green/herbal notes through more bittersweet oak at the very back. After dilution, the stone fruit notes and oak integrate with the malt, giving a more direct experience, but with sharper oak near the back.

Finish: raisins, oak tannins, malt, stone fruit, herbal, floral, and just a touch of soap

This is a great display of the power of blending - the best parts of each single malt have been pulled forward, while the flaws have been reduced significantly, leaving the whole greater than the sum of its parts. This reminds me off a Caperdonich I sampled a while back, with the combination of fruit esters and herbal notes over fairly mild oak, though this is, despite being a similar strength, much less aggressively alcoholic.

Whisky Review: BenRiach Importanticus Fumosus

One of the innovations since BenRiach was bought into private hands in the early 2000s has been making more creative use of their peated whisky. While originally created as fodder for Seagram's blends as they did not own any Islay distilleries, it has since become a significant asset for the company, as there are few Speyside distilleries making peated whisky that have significant aged stocks.

As with their unpeated whisky, BenRiach has explored cask finishes as a way to put new layers of flavor on top of the spirit. This particular one is made from ex-bourbon cask whisky that is then transferred to tawny port hogsheads (I don't know if they are rebuilt port pipes or new hogsheads seasoned with port). After at least 12 years in oak, the whisky is proofed down to 46% and bottled without chill filtration or coloring.

BenRiach Importanticus Fumosus

Nose: malty core, light port influence, juicy raisins, fresh apples, sweet bacon, mild mossy/vegetal peat with a Laphroaig edge, coal, bourbon cask notes of vanilla, caramel, and toasty oak, fishy overtones, and a hint of sour milk. After adding a few drops of water, the peat and oak take center stage, the peat becomes kind of musky, the malt integrates with the peat - makes the whisky seem more youthful, the port becomes more like sherry and some raspberry pops out.

Taste: very sweet (almost too sweet) malt, caramel, and port influence (wine/raisins) up front, before slamming into a wall of oak tannins, coal tar, and bitter vegetal notes, malt and port ride underneath creating a flavor like dark chocolate in the middle - feels thin despite the alcohol heat. After dilution, the port sweetness comes in big in the beginning, but the oak nearly takes over the subsequent palate, with the other flavors being relegated to the background.

Finish: sweet malt, port, oak, coal tar, and peat - tapers off quickly

I found this whisky fairly disappointing. The nose is reasonably pleasant - the port offers some counterpoint to the usual BenRiach malt and peat, but it lacks the clear structure of either Curiositas or Arumaticus Fumosus on the palate. The port seems kind of simple and not quite integrated, while the spirit has picked up too much oak and lost too much peat. There are times when it works better than others, but even then there's nothing I can find to recommend it over other whiskies. Ultimately, unless you're going for completeness (like I am) in exploring BenRiach's peated cask finishes, I would probably give this one a miss or, at the least, try before you buy.

Whisky Review: Duncan Taylor Benriach 34 Year 1968/2003

Benriach was closed from 1900 to 1965, which means that this whisky was distilled only a few years after its reopening by the owners of Glenlivet. They would have been using their own floor maltings, which had been operating through the closure to supply the nearby Longmorn distillery.

This one is from an ex-bourbon cask, and likely a relatively inactive one at that, which has allowed the spirit to retain a shocking amount of freshness after more than three decades in oak. It was bottled at its cask strength of 48.0% with an outturn of 125 bottles. Somehow I managed to get my hands on bottle #1.

I opened this bottle on my birthday last summer as the start of a tradition of drinking whiskies that are older than I am each year. I was lucky enough to obtain this bottle, and a startling number of others, from the Oregon state liquor system. It appears that they bought a very large clutch of Duncan Taylor whiskies over the last ten years, which then languished on shelves until they were systematically reduced to close-out prices over the last twelve months or so. It's been quite a bit of fun hunting them down (though there were a number that I missed and regret not picking up when they were available) and I look forward to drinking and sharing them over the next dozen years or so.

Notes have been taken at various times since it was opened, as the bottle oxidized and evolved.

Duncan Taylor Benriach 34 Year 1968/2003 Cask #2592

Initial impressions (7/23-31/2013)

Nose: green fruit (apples/pears), pineapple, intertwined malt and vanilla, floral, lightly jammy (berries), a hint of oak, grass/hay, a bit of salty bacon and caramel, fruit leather/sherry. After adding a few drops of water, it becomes more grain-focused with some corn popping out, grape/floral notes, and the apples become more cooked.

Taste: surprisingly hot up front with sweet caramel and malt, rather green throughout, some muddled oak notes at the back. After dilution, there is more chocolate and oak, some vague fruitiness emerges, the sweetness becomes fructose, and there is noticeably less burn.

Finish: light but lingering sharp notes of green malt, chocolate, and slightly tired oak, pineapple and floral notes, with a lot of alcohol

Initially this whisky seemed downright immature, with a shocking amount of alcohol heat for its strength and almost new-make levels of vegetal notes. It was something of a let-down, as the reviews I had read gave me a lot of hope that this would be a rather good whisky.

Mid-Bottle (9/29/2013 & 2/7/2014)

Nose: lots of green and lightly toasted malted barley, pine, very light oak, floral notes, green and stone fruit (apples & pears especially), sweet vanilla tucked inside, musky/sweaty, caramel, brine, a touch of coal/wood smoke, grassy, bacon, berries

Taste: very sweet throughout, lots of vanilla, light malt and oak, vegetal

Finish: peaches, peaches, and more peaches, hints of oak, strange herbal/vegetal tinge, malty, graham crackers

Especially in the finish, this was the whisky at its fruitiest. The peach notes in the finish were nigh overwhelming, to the point of being almost unsettling. The palate still felt rather immature, which made me leave it alone for months at a time between nips at the bottle.

Most recent (4/22/2014)

Nose: caramel, vanilla marshmallows, graham crackers, dry malt, light and well-integrated oak, a touch of barrel char, musky perfume, a vegetal edge, overtones of apples and pears, peaches, berries. After adding a few drops of water, the oak becomes more prominent.

Taste: caramel and malt sweetness with peach overtones throughout with a slight citrus-sour edge, well-aged oak and dry black pepper in the middle, near the back there is a huge bump of floral violets and moderately aggressive/sharp grassy/vegetal notes. After dilution, the sucrose sweetness and oak become more assertive, while the floral notes start to integrate with the oak in the middle to produce a sense of tropical fruits, then take an odd swing into something vaguely peppery at the end in combination with the vegetal notes.

Finish: sweet malt with a floral/vegetal edge and almost sour peach notes

This whisky is definitely more drinkable now. The palate is finally starting to show a bit of complexity, though the nose has lost a bit. The vegetal character hasn't totally disappeared, but the initial heat has receded significantly. Goes to show that sometimes these old whiskies really do just need to sit open for a long time before they really hit their stride. I do think I'm interpreting the flavors differently than the reviews from LAWS and Malt Nuts - while we're all getting the esters, I read them primarily as floral and vegetal with a side of peaches, while others seem to get a lot more tropical fruits. Once again, people can interpret the same chemical compounds very differently.

Now I'm kind of sad that the bottle is almost finished, though I'll get to try it again in another couple of years as I also own bottle #21 (when the price dropped to $99 I couldn't resist grabbing a second one). It'll be interesting to see both how the whisky changes and my own tastes change in that time.

Whisky Review: BenRiach Arumaticus Fumosus

As I mentioned in my review of BenRiach Curiositas, the distillery had a significant stock of aging peated malt whisky when it was taken over by Billy Walker. One of the strategies they have taken to utilize this stock is cask finishing - transferring the spirit from ex-bourbon barrels to other more esoteric casks for some period of time to add another layer of flavor.

This particular whisky is finished in Jamaican rum barrels. This is an interesting pick, as Jamaican rum usually has a very high ester content, which gives it a very unique 'dunder funk'. I've always felt that Jamaican rum was the peated whisky of the rum world, so it's interesting to see these two strongly flavored spirits brought together.

As with the rest of the line, this whisky is bottled at 46% without coloring or chill filtration.

BenRiach Aromaticus Fumosus

Nose: lots of sweet malt wrapped in vegetal peat and grass, rummy notes - especially esters, nutmeg, and banana, very light oak, a bit salty. After adding a few drops of water, the rum tucks inside the malt whisky notes of rubbery/vegetal peat and malt, starting dry but becoming sweeter over time.

Taste: sweet rum and malt up front, quickly giving way to vegetal peat, rum esters, and pepper, slowly fading back towards bittersweet malt and oak. After dilution, the rum shows up primarily as molasses and chocolate sweetness, without the aggressive esters of the neat palate, while the peat becomes significantly more subdued.

Finish: peat reek, barrel char, fried bananas, molasses, rum esters, bitter oak, salty malt.

If you've never tried Jamaican rum before, this is going to seem like a very odd whisky. While the rum casks do add a certain amount of sweetness, it's largely balanced by the dunder funk esters, which meld with the peat in a unique fashion. If Jamaican rum is new to you, I would highly suggest trying some Appleton V/X or, even better, Smith & Cross. Both of those rums will give you a sense of the drier, high-ester style of rum, in comparison to the sweeter molasses-driven rums that one encounters more frequently.

On the plus side, this is a cask finish that hasn't erased the essential qualities of the whisky. While the rum is very present, there is still a lot of malt and peat, so it remains firmly rooted in the malt whisky world. I've grown more and more dubious about cask finishes, but this one hits the ball out of the park. The whisky and rum fit together so well - though I suspect the extra couple of years in casks helped since the peat is a bit tamer than the 10 year old Curiositas, which gives the rum a bit more room to shine. I'm curious to try the unpeated BenRiach rum finish to see how well it holds up - however, the peat seemed like a really great compliment to the rum's esters, so I'm not sure a cleaner canvas will work properly.

Either way, I would highly suggest picking this one up if a) you enjoy heavily peated whiskies and b) you can still find it. Shouldn't be difficult if you live in the UK, but it might be trickier on this side of the Atlantic. But it looks like Toast Wines still has it in stock for a pretty reasonable $53 and will ship to most states.

Whisky Review: BenRiach Curiositas

BenRiach is a distillery located on the north side of the Speyside region, near Longmorn (see Malt Madness for the full story about BenRiach's connection with Longmorn).

For the purposes of this review, the interesting bit of history came after BenRiach was purchased by Seagram's in 1977. In the early 80s, the distillery began to distill runs of heavily peated (50 PPM) malt in the style of Islay whisky. This was done because of the decreasing supply and increasing cost of Islay whisky at the time. As heavily peated whiskies are a key component in many blends and Seagrams did not own any distilleries on Islay, they wanted to bring some of the production in-house to ensure supply.

When BenRiach was purchased from Chivas in 2004 by Billy Walker, there was a significant stock of aging peated single malt in the distillery's warehouses. It has since been released in a number of different ages, ranging from 10 to 21 years old. BenRiach has also taken the somewhat peculiar step of naming all of their peated single malts with Latin names.

Today we'll be looking at the youngest peated single malt from BenRiach, which is bottled at a solid 46% without chill filtration.

BenRiach Curiositas

Nose: vegetal/smoky peat that seems particularly fresh - like walking through a forest in spring where green wood is being burned, gently floral, rich bourbon barrel notes, salty playdough, a mishmash of fruit (particularly berries), light vanilla. After adding a few drops of water, the peat becomes softer and integrates with the malt, the floral and fruit notes integrate, some mocha notes pop out, and the saltiness gets toned down a bit

Taste: lots of malt and bourbon sweetness up front and in the middle, a combination of peat, oak tannins, pepper, and wood smoke/ash come in quickly along with something a bit medicinal, muddled fruit around the middle, becoming fairly bitter near the back. After dilution, everything layers on top of each other instead of coming in distinct phases, the peat gets a bit more rubbery (especially at the back), and it's a bit flatter and less sweet.

Finish: peat-focused, lots of wood smoke/ash, moderate amounts of malt and oak tannins, bourbon barrel residue

This one is a bit of an odd duck. The character of the peat is very different than anything else I've tried - it's much more like fresh vegetation, with a sense of living things rather than the more smokey or decayed vegetation one gets from a lot of Islay whiskies. However I think it can stand up to any of the big Islay peat bruisers - if you like Ardbeg or Laphroaig this should definitely be on your list. At the same time, it reminds me of Ledaig 10 Year, because of the heavy bourbon barrel influence. That helps to give it plenty of sweetness and depth to counteract the huge blasts of peat.

Overall, I think this is a good whisky to pick up if you already like peat - it's something different to challenge your palate. However, it's not what I would go for if I was trying to introduce someone to peat or whisky in general. The flavors are just a bit too peculiar.

As a last note, this makes me really interested to try the various cask finishes that BenRiach has done with their younger peated whisky. It's a solid base of smoke on which to layer other flavors, but given my skepticism of finishes, I'm going to moderate my expectations.