Benrinnes 23 Year Old 1985

Benrinnes is a whisky you don’t see very often. It is one of those anonymous work horses for Diageo that produces bulk malts for blends like Johnnie Walker, J&B, Crawfords and the like. There are just a few official bottlings and this is one of them. It hit the shelves in 2009 as part of Diageo’s yearly Special Release and matured on sherry casks.

Wonderfully juicy nose on roast beef with Nutelle (and that is not a joke). It is pretty umami and sweet at the same time. It flirts with sulphur, but never quite crosses that line. Au contraire. It becomes wonderfully fruity on plums and dades, hazelnuts and dried figs. There is also a herbal side to it. And some leather, making it somewhat dry.

Lovely, feisty arrival and immediately very sweet on Nutella and rum raisins. Very spicy indeed. Cardamom and mustard seeds. The roast beef returns, as do the plums and dades. You can almost chew it and I just love it. It does not need water (and truth be told, my sample is too small to give that a try).

The oak becomes quite loud in the very long finish, making this Benrinnes dry your mouth completely.

Very good and very complex animal. Checking my notes, it seems this is only my 5th Benrinnes so far. Well, you do not see it that often with Indies either. Used to be 150 EUR, today – if you can still find it – you’ll have to double that amount.

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