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Benromach 10 Year Old

Benrowmore

0 377

@TheConscienceReview by @TheConscience

21st Jul 2012

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  • Nose
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  • Taste
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  • Finish
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  • Balance
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  • Overall
    77

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

This malt reminds me of Bowmore 12, only better. Parallels are found in the fruit-to-peat-to-vegetal profile that each whisky seems to share. Keen observers might note that, for me, the association with Bowmore is not necessarily a good thing.

Nose: initially, dry peat and dry industrial smoke, with a fruity subtext. Give it time and you will be rewarded. Dark fruit will dominate, with an undercurrent of smoke and peat.

Palate: all over the place. There is a watery-sweet arrival that will linger throughout the development and into the finish. As the sweetness subsides (still lingering though) there is a chalky dryness that precedes the mild spice. Then the peat chimes in, itself transitioning into a leafy or vegetal sourness. A jack-of-all-trades.

Finish: sustained. The sweetness is still there, but the drying vegetal note dominates along with some lingering smoke.

Well this one is a challenge to map, and maybe not the most pleasant of challenges. There is something about leafy, vegetal, ferny, sour notes that do not appeal to my frail and orchidaceous palate. Nice quality, but I’m glad I committed only to the 200ml bottle.

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3 comments

@Pudge72
Pudge72 commented

...though that 200mL bottle is disproportionately pricey in Ontario (smart to go with the mini, nonetheless)!

Thanks for the review, as I have been curious about this one. Would I be correct in interpreting your notes to mean that this bottle may provide a guidepost to what an 'unbalanced' whisky is like (or at least one form of unbalanced)?

Connosr, can the Benromach 10 be added as a standard bottle to the database? Thanks!

11 years ago 0

@TheConscience
TheConscience commented

Indeed it is disproportionately pricey. However, I picked it up after exchanging at the LCBO a duplicate bottle someone had purchased for me. I swapped a Balvenie double wood (I already had a 1L bottle) for the Benromach and a bunch of Ontario craft beers. So, technically, it cost me nothing, which is always a good deal.

It might be considered unbalanced in the sense that the range flavours - from sweet to smoke to sour to dry - are quite varied and 'all over the map', and take some time to figure out. It's not quite the tight, simple, and pleasant profile of, say, a Talikser. However, the flavours do arrive and develop in a consistent pattern and balance, without any one overpowering or muting the others. There was not anything off putting about it, other than my general dislike for vegetal, leafy, sour notes. Perhaps I did not really answer your question (you can let me know). In the end, I wouldn't turn down a dram if it were offered.

11 years ago 0

@Pudge72
Pudge72 commented

Your additional explaination clarifies to me that it was an 'unbalanced in an interesting and good way' profile, and not the 'yikes one or more of the notes took this dram hostage' form of unbalanced. Sounds like it would be a great educational experience. I will have to pick up a mini myself at some point...

11 years ago 0

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