One of two limited edition releases from the Benromach distillery, released under the excellent ‘Contrasts’ series. This release was distilled in 2012 and matured in air-dried virgin oak casks for 10 years. Bottled in 2023, the second limited edition whiskey was matured in kiln-dried virgin casks, so it would be a fascinating comparison to sit down and compare how each maturation style has changed the flavor profile while on cask.
Nose
Sweet vanilla fudge aroma with mixed citrus, oak and underlying smoke.
Palate
Notes of cracked black pepper are followed by flavors of citrus, toasted grain, fresh garden mint and oak.
Exit
Lingering hints of smoke.
Benromach was founded in 1898 and was one of the distilleries that had to close in 1983, when very little whiskey was drunk and the industry lagged. But fortunately, Benromach restarted production in 1998, as (so far) the only one of the many missing distilleries to turn off the boilers in that fateful year.
It was the independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail who brought Benromach to life. In 1993 they bought what was left of the distillery (a few washbacks and the empty buildings) and then spent the next 5 years renovating and installing new equipment. Gordon & MacPhail is known to have vast quantities of old whiskey that the company has purchased over the years, and were thus uniquely placed to look through their “floating library” and trace the style that Benromach had before the closure .
The new distillery was then designed so that it could match the old style as best as possible, and they even installed a malt grinder that was built in 1913! In particular, a hint of smoke was thought to be extremely important. This is how Speyside whiskey tasted in the old days, because before the 1960s most distilleries malted themselves, and here they used both coal and peat. Their standard malt is peated to 10-12ppm, but they also make a little bit of whiskey with a significantly stronger smoke, which can be tasted in bottlings like Contrasts: Peat Smoke.
