Benrinnes 15 Year Single Cask Review
In-Depth Review
This 15 Year from Benrinnes is part of Douglas Laing’s Old Particular range, bottled specifically for K&L Wine Merchants in California. K&L has a history of fantastic picks from all across the world, and when this one was put on clearance, I couldn’t resist.
Originally built in 1826, Benrinnes is now part of the expansive Diageo portfolio and is most commonly found bottled by independent bottlers rather than distillery releases. Most of Benrinnes whisky makes it into blends like Jonnie Walker and J&B. This particular distillate was produced in December of 2003 while Benrinnes still used a unique partial triple distillation method. This unique process was stopped in 2007, when Benrinnes went to a more traditional double distillation process. Now let’s dive in and see if what the fine folks at K&L fell in love with.
Age: 15 Year
ABV: 56.9%
Cask: Refill Hogshead
MSRP: $79.99
Distillery Name: Benrinnes
Review Date: 12/5/20
Color: Light Goldenrod
Nose: Immediately after pouring the nose is very aggressive. It’s in your face with strong ethanol, green grass, freshly cut flowers and herbs. A sweetness appears as it sits in the glass. But rather than a deep vanilla or caramel, the sweetness is more like unripe fruits with a hint of flambéed dessert.
Palate: The first sip is also quite aggressive. Very malt forward on the palate with chili spice, chocolate, and strong floral notes. Strong spiciness comes through at full cask strength. This is not a delicate whisky. It’s rather closed up and adding a little bit of water rounds out a lot of the rough edges and brings more flavors to the forefront. After the water there are nuts, almonds, tree bark, and cocoa powder emerge.
Finish: This 15 year gives a long finish featuring pepper mixed with a minty freshness. More chili powder also comes through on a dry, long finish.
Final Thoughts: Without water this is a difficult whisky. It’s brash and closed off, but after a couple drops of water this really comes alive with great flavors and strong malt influence. The mouthfeel even improves with the addition of water and creates an oily, thicker experience. Wood influence seems minimal here and the bright malt really shines. Unfortunately, I prefer a whisky that’s a little softer and fruitier than this and find myself not reaching for this as much. A good whisky, just not my preferred palate.
