The whisky in the above photo was distilled at the Benrinnes Distillery in Speyside, Scotland. I'm pretty sure that I've never tried a whisky from this distillery. There are at least two reasons for this:
- Per the Benrinnes webpage on the malts.com website, there is only one regular expression available from this distillery. It's called 15 Years Old Flora & Fauna, and as far as I can tell, it's not available in the United States.
- According to maltmadness.com, Benrinnes is primarily used for blending, so other than the aforementioned Flora & Fauna release, the only way to get a single malt version of Benrinnes in the United States is through independent bottlers like The Classic Cask.
This is where I have to say "Thank you!" to all of the outstanding independent bottlers out there, because if it wasn't for them, there are many many single malt Scotch whiskies that we would never have the opportunity to try on their own. Thank you, independent bottlers. Keep doing what you're doing, and we'll keeping drinking!
Now that we know a bit more about Benrinnes, let's get on with the review...
- Appearance: Rose gold color which reminds me of the patina on a Rose Gold Rolex President.
- Aroma: Very fruity with lots of vanilla, baked apple, rum soaked raisins, pipe tobacco, ginger, and cinnamon.
- Taste: Starts off hot and fiery with quite the oily mouthfeel. All of the heat is concentrated on the front third of my tongue. As far as actual flavors go, the beginning brings baked apple with hot cinnamon. Gets spicier in the middle with an almost roasted chile quality going on. At the finish, this whisky gets really dry with lingering spice, a bit of tobacco, and a bit of clove too. There's also an odd note in the aftertaste which I can't figure out.
- ABV: 59.5%
The Verdict
This 19 Year Old Benrinnes was quite the intense little dram. Definitely packs some heat and boy oh boy is it dry! Dry heat perhaps? Maybe like Vegas or Phoenix in mid-July? Or something like that. Anyway. Other than that odd little note that I picked up in the aftertaste, I really enjoyed this whisky. I particularly enjoyed the mouthfeel thanks to it's delightful oiliness.
____________________________________________
Many thanks to Lauren Mayer of Spirit Imports for sending us this very generous sample!
Categories: Benrinnes, Booze Review
Tagged as: Benrinnes, booze, Drinkwire, Liquor, Review, Reviews, Spirit Imports, Spirits, The Classic Cask, The Classic Cask Benrinnes 19 Year Old, Whiskey, Whisky
