Brilliantly peaty 12-year-old whisky here from the Benriach Distillery, released as part of its new core range launched in 2020. To create this expression, Dr. Rachel Barrie used a combo of bourbon, sherry and Marsala wine casks, imparting sun-dried fruit and warming festive spice notes to the smoky single malt. Ought to be fab for chilly evenings, this one...
Flamed orange peel, chocolate brownies fresh from the oven, raisins and walnuts.
Well-rounded sweetness from the Marsala casks wonderfully juxtaposed with woody smoke and a hint of clove.
Almond, orange once again, peppercorn and hickory.
So I have the Smoky 12 and Smoke Season - both from Benriach in my cabinet. I have not yet tasted the SS - its fairly new. But had a taste of the S12 last night. Its meh - definitely not smoky if you are fan of Islay whiskies. But that said, its not a bad whisky by any means. I will spend more time with it over the following weeks and hope it opens up some smoky notes. speaking to the specialty whisky store I purchased from, apparently the Smoke Season is quite the hit. I may also open that up in the coming weeks as well and it will be nice to compare. Enjoy
Sadly it does not hold up over time. After opening and with 3/5 left in the bottle, it has lost some of its attributes. Ashy smoke and sweetness is still present, but the fruitiness wears off. It is still a decent deam, but others just does it better - I’d prefer Birnie Moss or Kilchoman Vintage over this.
Just great, lots going on and a wonderful balance between sweetness and smokiness.
Just great, lots going on and a wonderful balance between sweetness and smokiness.
Smokehead, Ardbeg, Talisker. Are all my firm favourites. This has just been added. Cream, honey and smoke all with enough prominence to enrich the depth of every sip. As soon I saw it was 46% I knew it was going to be something special, and it was.
