Last year RvB shared this Benromach. He’s quite a fan of the distillery so he went to some length to get a bottle from Germany, since German shops aren’t normally allowed to ship to The Netherlands.

Something about open borders within the EU, except when there’s a penny lost in excise.

Anyway, a fresh sherry cask for the German market. That is bound to be intense. Our eastern neighbours tend to favor the big, dark sherry bombs in general. So let’s see if this is good, or has crossed over into the realm of ridicule!

Sniff:
Thick, leathery sherry. Lots of baking spices, lots of prunes and cherries. The sweet funkiness of Benromach, with a whiff of smoke.

Sip:
Sharp and intense, with a lot of spicy sweetness, lots of dried fruit and a bitter note. Funky with notes of leather, hessian, baking spices, cherry, cherry stones, the works.

Swallow:
A rich finish, but not overly long. Thick, big flavors, syrupy, spicy, fruity. Like the palate.

Well, let’s start by saying this is an incredible dram. It’s insanely rich and heavy with lots of feinty notes that make Benromach great! Let’s also mention that there’s absolutely no subtlety within this whisky. It’s clunky, it’s a punch in the face. But a punch with lots of great flavors.

It’s almost like it takes a small part of what sherry casks can bring to a whisky and amplified it. As in, dried fruit and baking spices remain, and lighter notes that bring more complexity have been removed. And what was left is amped up to 11.

89/100