Benriach 2010 Best Dram – 56.9%

12 years in the First Fill Oloroso Hogshead have given the Benriach 2010/2023 a surprising profile of marzipan, dry fruit sweetness and spicy leather.

Unique casks, personally and locallyselected in Scotland’s whiskey regions, always cask strength, never chill-filtered or coloured. Sounds magical? No wonder, because these Best Drams are the work of Michel Reick, who, as a whiskey druid, makes the magic of hand-picked casks accessible to connoisseurs. Six newcomers allow magical moments of pleasure this week.

The new Best Drams had between 7 and 16 years to develop their exquisite aromas. The single cask bottlings open up exciting perspectives on distilleries on the island of Islay, Speyside and the Lowlands and Highlands for whiskey fans – in combination with aromatic (strong) wine casks.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Dry and fruity with baked apple and orange, then sweetening with fig, raisins and marzipan.

Palate: mouth-filling. An initially dry fruit sweetness with currants and dark chocolate turns into extremely aromatic and spicy notes of leather, oak and freshly ground coffee beans.

Finish: Complex. More spice and fruity notes of cherry and flambéed apple again, followed by unexpected smoke with malt.