When you have a reputation as an unconventional distillery, why would you be satisfied with just two levels of sherry cask maturation? That’s the question behind the new BenRiach Sherry Wood 12-year-old Single Malt.
Made using three-way sherry wood maturation (full sherry cask aging followed by Pedro Ximinez and Olorosso finishing) this new addition to the BenRiach core range offers layers of fruit sweetness and toasted oak spice before delivering a dessert-like finish.
The BenRiach Sherry Wood 12-year-old brings memories of honeyed fig, baked pineapple and sultana to the palate, wearing a dessert-like finish lightly on its shoulders.
Master blender Rachel Barrie describes the release as “a multi-layered single malt scotch whisky with notes of fruit cocktail, lilting spices, honeyed caramel and chocolate sweetness” and “an enrichment of BenRiach’s signature sweet, fruit-laden style”.
That sweet fruit-laden style can be attributed to BenRiach’s use of some of Speyside’s most experimental casks, brought together under Barrie’s expert supervision. The core range now comprises unpeated, peated and triple-distilled expressions, a tribute to the adventurous spirit of its wandering founder, John Duff, who travelled far and wide before founding the distillery in 1898.
BenRiach Sherry Wood, 12-year-old single malt Speyside whisky. 46%, $56. Global release, September 2018.
