The BenRiach 2008 Cask Bottling Peated Port Cask 9 yo c. 2048

 

 

 

61,7°

Distillery : The BenRiach - Speyside

Port Pipe

Original Bottling 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2018

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

 

 

 

In 2004, the distillery launched its first batch of Single Cask Bottling, at the time 4 bottlings with different maturities, all in Single Cask. 15 years later, Batch 15 offers 17 different expressions. And all in Single Cask, please. The youngest of these 17 variations is this one, a peated 9-year-old aged in Port. 858 bottles have been released. I've only written Cask Bottling in the title because, for Batch 15, that's what it says on the bottle. I would have liked to know the peat content, especially as it seems to be quite high.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

Right away, the sweetness of the Port, smooth as silk, fruity with damsons and black fruits. Coal, thick smoke, a forest fire in the distance. It goes well with the distillery's woodland profile, vegetables still beaded with earth, pumpkin, courgette, eggplant. Rhubarb. The Port is a little syrupy and woody. Gooseberries and cranberries. Amarena. The peat is quite grimy, earthy, with quicklime and mould. Asphalt, tarmac, tyre tracks on tarmac. On the palate, it's liqueur, very round, wrapped in plum and blueberry, then the spices gradually rise until they become quite strong, paprika, cumin, saffron, the peat comes behind, pretty powerful, damp, vegetal, mucky. Dutch black tobacco jokes, clearing the throat. Old wood. Very long finish, lignite, humus, deep earth, bitter roots. A cocoa bean. A hint of liquorice.

 

In Short, 

Whatever people may say, at BenRiach they don't play around with peat. Nothing to do with those so-called peaty expressions that remain very soft at 18 ppm. This bottling has nothing to envy of those from Islay with the highest peat concentration, but it reminds me more of the more rural Ledaig. The peat is nicely smoky and earthy, and enhances the fruity port and the distillery's more discreet hallmarks. This is very good work. You can still find a few bottles at a good price if you look around, frankly you wouldn't be wasting your money.

Score : 89

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                          To Be Listened While Sipping :

  

                                          Calexico - Stray