Benriach
Shades of Smoke
A 31 Year Old vintage from 1994, one of the oldest ever peated expressions available from Speyside.
A serious, smoky Speysider
Born from the creative mind of master blender Rachel Barrie, Shades of Smoke 31 Year Old is a Speysider, but not how you know it. Distilled across spring and summer 1994, it comes from an era when the distillery actively leaned into producing higher volumes of its softer, sweeter peated style.
You’re looking at a whisky that balances luscious fruit, chocolate richness, and caramel depth, all threaded through with a gentle, refined smoke. Not loud or medicinal. It’s less about peat levels and more about how smoke behaves when it’s given space to evolve.
Digital artist Stefano Contiero created the label and packaging using a generative algorithm, built after tasting the whisky with Barrie. Instead of designing a single fixed image, he let forms and colours emerge organically, mirroring how flavour develops over time in cask.
Benriach 31 Year Old - Shades of Smoke
Master blender Rachel Barrie's fingerprints are all over Shades of Smoke. Her approach takes an already distinctive smoky spirit and gives it the time and the space to shape it into something that's more about balance than bravado.
Peated Speyside at 31 years old is rare territory. Not because it can’t exist, but because most distilleries don’t give it this kind of runway.
This is the first release in Benriach’s Shades of Smoke collection, which tells you everything about the intent.
Tasting Notes
Nose:
Bright, sharp yuzu, forest honey sweetness, a delicate curl of juniper smoke, hints of dark chocolate and floral hibiscus. Spiced orange peel and a soft, caramelised edge.
Palate:
The chocolate turns silkier here, laced with tangy hibiscus and spiced orange caramel. The smoke builds gently, wild honey and charred mandarin.
Finish:
Lemon and ginger, soft peach, and wisps of smoke fade.
Rest of range promos
From £5 to £11 off, Benriach bargains await you here. Shop now and save on this sublime Speysider.
50 Shades of Smoke
Watch here and learn all about the new launch. A whisky worth the wait, and the beginning of something special...
About Benriach
Benriach has always felt like the slightly eccentric one in Speyside. Founded in 1898 by John Duff, it’s never quite stuck to the script.
Today it sits under Brown-Forman, alongside The GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh, but it still does its own thing. While most Speyside distilleries lean clean and fruity, Benriach happily plays across three styles: classic unpeated, Highland-style peated, and even triple-distilled single malt when it fancies it.
That flexibility is backed by a seriously wide-ranging cask inventory pulled from all over the world. Which is where Rachel Barrie comes in. She’s not just matching spirit to wood, she’s orchestrating it. That means whisky with layers, character, and just enough unpredictability to keep things interesting.
