Benrinnes 1997 / 19 Year Old / Signatory

At the foot of the Ben Rinnes Mountain you’ll find this distillery of the same name. Founded in 1826, completely washed away in the 1829 Great Speyside Floods and rebuilt in 1835, this is a lesser known distillery of which 95% of production goes to the blenders. Official bottlings are few and far between. Let’s try a recent release by Signatory in their so-called Vintage series. Two hogsheads were vatted for this release.

Spring fresh, floral nose on citrus fruit, barley sugars, dry oak and some pepper. A small waxy note shines through. Quite simple, but attractive at the same time.

Nicely oily, silky soft and fruity on the palate. Again somewhat waxy. Quite good. The fruit is overripe and slowly evolves towards the candied variety. Touch of pepper. The oak rears its head, but it never becomes oaky.

The finish is quite short with the emphasis on the spicy, dry oak.

This malt will not blow you away, but pour it when the first spring sun appears (like I did) and it will put a smile on your face. Beautiful simplicity.

Find where to buy Benrinnes whisky