Benromach 10 year old

This month we are going to try a new release that has already made its mark on the world whisky scene, the Benromach 10 Year Old.

Benromach Distillery is the smallest working distillery in the Speyside region and is located to the north of the town of Forres. Infact, Benromach is one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland and only two people are employed to produce their spirit. The current annual production capacity is just 200,000 litres per year,

The distillery was founded in 1898 under the name of Forres distillery. It became known as Benromach in 1919, but had a troublesome career until finally the distillery was re-opened by Gordon & MacPhail who embarked on an innovative programme of whisky production. G&M have been ageing, blending and bottling single malt whiskies for 116 years, so they know a good dram.

The Benromach 10 is made up of 80% first fill bourbon cask matured whisky and 20% first sherry cask matured, which are then married together and matured for the final year in first fill Olorosso sherry Hogsheads.  Phenol levels of 12ppm, which is quite a mild level of peatiness.  By contrast something like Laphroaig is 40ppm. To explain, single malt whisky is normally aged in barrels that have been used for other spirits.  These barrels can be refilled several times, so first fill means this is the first time the barrel has been used to age whisky. Accordingly,  you get the most flavour from the previous spirit out of first fill barrels.

Benromach 10 year old has been awarded:  Gold in Great Taste Awards, 2010 &11, The Fifty Best Single Malt Scotch 10 to 12 years, San Francisco World Spirits Competition.  So lets see how it tastes: