Benromach Cara Gold Malt is an exciting, limited edition addition to the Contrasts range. What is special is precisely the malt, cara gold, which is a type that is often used for beer brewing but only very rarely for whiskey. It is joined by a little bit of Benromach’s own peat smoked malt. The whiskey is aged in first-fill bourbon casks and bottled at 46% alcohol.
Colour: Golden.
Aroma: The nose is met by delicious notes of tropical fruit, malt, honey and a hint of smoke.
Tasting notes: Soft and sweet, with a deep, malty taste. Tropical fruit, pepper, caramel and a hint of peat in the finish.
Serving suggestion: Should be enjoyed neat.
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 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 peats at 10-12ppm, but they also make a little bit of whiskey with a significantly stronger smoke.
Benromach is the essence of a craft distillery. It’s hands-on, all the way through, and probably the smallest distillery in Speyside. Only 2 men are involved in the production! There are no thermometers or pressure gauges on their pot-stills – you ensure that things run as they should with “sound, touch and sight”. It’s old fashioned, but it’s amazingly good. Benromach have set the bar unreasonably high for their competitors in Speyside.
