So, how is your hangover after the new year parties last night? 🙂
I guess many of you aren’t feeling 100% well today so go take some painkillers, drink a lot of water and I’ll go easy with you today with a “debt” review, the 17th dram, one before last dram, of the Blind Competition Tasting 2015.
Well, we knew it’s no highlander after the Inchmurrin the day before, so by default, the suspected region was Speyside. But this dram with the peat and burnt rubber notes totally threw me off. There is peat, but it’s not of the Islay peat type as it felt of the clear and crisp smoke type and less of the peated, ashy and soot type. Eventually I guessed it to be a Ledaig 2004 as I read a few tasting notes mentioning clear smokiness but no, I wasn’t even close as it was a single cask BenRiach 1994 (cask 806), bottled for independentspirit.de
I considered BenRiach briefly but dismissed it due to the burnt rubber note which I didn’t link to their usual sherry casks, so no points to me on that day. Ah, once again the wonders of single casks strike back…
BenRiach 1994 20 Year Old for Independent Spirit (54.6%, 659 bottles, €124)
photo credit: whiskybase.com
Nose: Oh my, this is good. It’s very sherried and with a spicy and dirty edge. Berries, soaked raisins, dark chocolate, nutmeg and honey. A fantastic nose, I could smell it for hours! 
Nose: A great fruity start with dark and deep fruit, peaches, pears and apricots, honey, rich and deep, you feel the age here. Nuts, nutmeg, and after nursing it in the glass for a while a bountiful of tropical fruit. All in all it’s a lovely nose. 
Nose: Just like the 25 yo this one carries too the Brora classic profile. I guess they work hard to retain it when vatting the casks for the annual special releases and it’s working for them. It’s sweeter, fresher and more friendly than the 25, gentle whiffs of smoke, fruity with a lot of peaches, wax, earthy, honey. Just plain gorgeous.
Nose: It’s plainly a Brora as there’s no mistake here with the combination of honey, wafts of peat smoke and wax. But the nose is closed and it needs some time to open up. after coaxing it a bit, we get floral notes, nutty and earthy notes and even some peaches. I added a few drops of water and was rewarded with pepper, honey and a citrus notes.
Nose: Sweet honey, a tad floral and perfume-y, chalk and a bit of dust, sometimes it feels chiseled (as serge says), remote stone fruit, apricots, unripe yellow plums, nails polish. With water: less dusty/chalk and fruitier. 
Nose: Yummy! Fragrance, honey and floral, peaches, coconuts, wood varnish and some sourness that turns into a funky and dirty note (yet lovely), white pepper and chocolate. 
Nose: Hmm, first sniff was weird with lots of lactic notes and dirt, but it settled down after some air exposure and then we got a myriad of notes: honey and a lot of farmy notes with hey, grass and a bit of greenery. It has that lovely dirtiness combo of brine, peat smoke and diesel oil. How dirty it is? let’s say that after a bit while, it’s dirtier than the dirty dozen 🙂 oh, and I still get a weak lactic note but it’s fitting OK in the big picture here.
Nose: A very closed nose sporting honey, a touch of toffee, dusty, malt, hints of nuts, greenery and malt. I decided to let it rest for 10 minutes in the glass and was rewarded with lovely notes of fruit which later on evolved to include soursweet tropical fruit such as mango and papaya. mild oak wood spices.
Whisky Gospel 