The Smoky Ten from Benriach's core range launched in 2020 shows off the distillery's skill at working with peated malt. Master blender Dr. Rachel Barrie and her team created this expression using whisky matured in bourbon barrels, toasted virgin oak casks and Jamaican rum casks, building a delicious flavour profile of ripe fruit and creamy spices to support the peaty wafts at its core. Top post-dinner dram, this!
Toasted coconut, aromatic smoke and a touch of greengage.
Cinnamon, ginger and dry smoke, shortly followed by maple syrup and peach.
Waves of fresh vanilla, salted butter and toasted barley.
“VERY NICE, fresh NOSE, very aromatic. Fruity, and very floral. Treacle, chocolate milk mix. Big big COCOA powder. Molasses-y, mineraly, slightly dry RUM is dominant upfront, then recedes and blends itself into the background with aeration, as fruit and PEAT take over. Candied lemons, lime, kiwis. Green apples and apple drop candies. Pears (with time). Papayas, mangos, pineapple. Red currants. Honey melon. Zesty tropical type fruits I'm finding it hard to identify (certainly from the rum maturation). Gooseberries and rhubarb. Raspberry note (with time). Brambles (blackberries) and black currants. Beautifully BALANCED between SWEET & syrupy and sharper FRUIT NOTES. A fresh green ferny thing (with time). Lime peels, banana peels. Sweet oranges or tangerines, faintly, with time. Leather in the back of it. THE PEAT adds a delectable savoriness but does not dominate. RICH MEDIUM-dark CHOCOLATE, with the peat, on the PALATE. PeaT heaDs will, let me say, not be disappointed here - nor will those looking for a luscious and sweet dram with some depth and dimensionality to it. There's less fruit in the mouth than on the nose; you get the baseline sweeter fruits, but not so much the fresher type ones. Sweet candied lemons most prominent there. Pear drops / apple drops. Treacle again. I'm definitely also getting the applewood that is in the official tasting notes here. The PEAT and the RUM I would say makes for a very satisfying chewy experience: and one that lingers on the finish. SWEET, fruity, aromatic, peaty: the SMOKY TEN 1''0, to me, has got it all, and everything in sublime balance. Good casks! Very highly recommended. ( One late afternoon neck pour and one very late night second pour. )”
J
If you want a low-priced single malt which will ignite all your taste buds, fill your mouth with smoke and leave it tingling, this is the one. I was given one in my advent calendar and immediately bought two bottles
This is an interesting whisky. It's a complex mix of interesting (good) flavours. There is a comforting sweetness to counteract the smokiness which is not overpowering but maintains some dominance. It's not the smoothest whisky I've tried by a long stretch. This would never be able to go toe to toe with the big boys in any of the categories it competes in. But for under £40? It's an excellent drink. Pound-for-pound it's right up there. I dare say there aren't 5 peated whiskies on the market for under £40 that could get anywhere near this. I think it would still be good value at say £48 a bottle. If you're into peated whisky and don't demand total refinement, or if you don't want to splash out on a premium bottle. You won't go wrong with this. The best budget peated whisky I've tried, probably.
This is a classy dram. Obviously not as 'in your face' as the Islay peat monsters, but the drift of smoke is a welcome addition to a smooth, sweet whisky. I'm inclined to think that Dr Rachel Barrie is a genius.
Smoke, apples, oak, tropical fruit, spice. Bought on a whim from the flash sale: no regrets.
Very very nice, I enjoyed every last drop! Fresh green apples and gooseberries on the nose entwined with smoke. Smooth on the palate with a smoked oak, salted butter and a lingering toasted barley to finish....delicious!!
