Scotland’s Most Diverse Scotch: BenRiach

A typical 10-year-old from BenRiach can have a range of characteristics as varied as a list of groceries. Fruity, spicy and malty followed by apple, pear, poached peach, bananas, cream and last but not least, honey. This of course sounds like an awful lot of flavour profiles to come from one bottle of single malt, especially from one that is of relatively young standing, but with BenRiach it’s all too common. BenRiach are renowned for distilling non-typical Scotch for the Speyside region and their unique produce is very much welcomed in the world of whisky.

BenRiach’s wide variety of casks stocked in Warehouse 13 allows master blender Barrie to experiment with a whole host of variously aged malts and marry them with different woods for maturation. The range of wood available at Warehouse 13 is very impressive. French wine barriques, French burgundy, Spanish sherry hogsheads and American white oak ex-bourbon barrels all make an appearance. This is where the common Speyside characteristic of light fruit is blended with vanilla, spice, sherry and sometimes smoke.

All bottlings of BenRiach offer a whole taste sensation, with various layers of taste and nose becoming increasingly present the more prolonged the drinking experience. The new arrival on American shores was the BenRiach 25 which shows the crossover of typical Speyside Scotch with something truly unique. Fruity but spiced with vanilla and sherry notes drizzled on top, the BenRiach 25 has introduced the American market to the older lesser known, unique single malts that BenRiach have to offer.

With over half of Scotland’s distilleries located in the Speyside region, BenRiach does very well to stand out above the rest and offer diversity paired with excellence.