Benromach 15 years Single Malt 43%

Benromach 15 years Single malt Speyside 43%

Benromach 15 years is the big brother of the popular 10 years Benromach. For 15 years you get a little more sherry and a complexity that is as deep as the Mariana Trench. The whiskey is made in the old Speyside style with a bit more smoke than you would expect from this region.

Scent: The warm copper color sends delicious notes up the glass of Christmas cake, cocoa, ginger cookies and charcoal.
Taste: Many different layers of Christmas spices and tangerine, with a hint of menthol and honey mixed with beeswax.

Distillery:

Benromach 15 years comes from the old distillery that was founded in 1898. Was one of the distilleries that had to close in 1983, when very little whiskey was drunk and the industry lagged. But fortunately, Benromach restarted production in 1998. One of the only of the many missing distilleries that turned off the boilers in that fateful year, which has started up again. It was independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail who brought Benromach to life.

In 1993 they bought what was left of the distillery, a few washbacks and the empty buildings. They then spent the next 5 years renovating and installing new equipment. Gordon & MacPhail is known for having huge quantities of old whiskey which the company has bought over the years. They were thus uniquely placed to look through their "floating library" and trace themselves to the style that Benromach had had before the closure.

The new distillery:

The new distillery was designed to match the old style as best as possible. Had a malt grinder installed which was built in 1913. In particular, a hint of smoke was thought to be extremely important. This is what Speyside whiskey tasted like in the old days. Before the 1960s, most distilleries malted themselves, so both coal and peat were used here. Their standard malt peats at 10-12ppm, but they also make a little bit of whiskey with a significantly stronger smoke.

Craft distillery:

Benromach is the essence of a craft distillery. It's hands-on, all the way through, and probably the smallest distillery in Speyside. There are only 2 men involved in the production. There are no thermometers or pressure gauges on their pot-stills. You ensure that things run as they should with "sound, touch and sight". It's old fashioned, but it's amazingly good. Benromach have set the bar unreasonably high for their competitors in Speyside.