Benriach 15 Year Old PX Sherry Wood Finish

Benraich seem to be specialising in these cask finishes expressions these days, with dozens to choose from at various ages. This one comes highly recommended by Jim Murray, but that can be a mixed blessing...

The marriage of Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, a very sweet concentrated sherry, with quite a light spirit is always likely to be won by the sherry and this is clear from the aroma. Sweetness from butterscotch and caramel are very strong with a sherry clove presence too. It’s classy stuff but not really the aroma of malt whisky.

The sherry continues to dominate on the palate with a rich bittersweet profile which almost wholly masks the native spirit. A rich syrupy mouth feel delivers a plethora of flavours including coffee, liquorish, candied fruit and alcoholic glace cherries. The dryer notes take over the finish with the coffee and cherry clove flavours lingering a while.

As a robust after diner dram or in place of a heavy peated whisky to finish a tasting session this would do good service, but it would be a better whisky if it carried some distillery character along with the cask.

Find where to buy BenRiach whisky