ESC Benrinnes 1979
Cask Type: Hogshead
Cask Number: #62
Bottled: 2024
Age: 45
Region: Speyside
No. of bottles: 193
ABV: 42.1%
Release: Spring Release 2024
Felix Dear:
“If War & Peace was a whisky; seemlessly flowing between distillate and oak, offering a world of complexity, this is exactly what deep age Scots whisky should be.”
Tasting Notes
The crescendo of aromas in this whisky begins with musty hessian and attics before rising into honey-soaked pineapple and peaches. Magnificent hints of leather and elderflower soon follow. The palate expands on this theme with apricot jam, stewed apple and lychee before developing into antique oak, cigar boxes and musty earth. The finish offers dried fruits and aged tea. This kind of complexity requires nearly half a decade of quiet ageing so accept no substitute.
Distillery
Benrinnes Distillery lies in the shadow of the eponymous mountain, near the River Spey. An earlier distillery bearing the name was flooded in 1829; today, the current distillery sits on safer ground.
Rob Whitehead says: “During the distillation process innumerable variables can have an impact upon the finished character of the spirit. The antiquated ‘Worm Tub’ method of condensation employed at Benrinnes not only allows a peek back into a former age of whisky production, but allows a rich, savoury, almost meaty character often to be found in the whisky.”