BenRiach 9 2008 Peated Port pipe

Thanks to /u/nsquare14 for sending me some samples. Really appreciate these, as he sent me some I’ve never reviewed as a thank you for the reviews.

BenRiach 9 2008 Peated Port pipe. That’s a mouthful. And not just because I’m imbibing it.

Let’s break this all down, shall we?

BenRiach. A distillery I enjoy, though I’ll admit the price increases and some of the drams not being as great as they used to (in the single cask arena) means this is a changing. I still stand by my enjoyment of previous ones.

9 years, from 2008? Sure, that doesn’t make me feel old at all. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go have a cry for totally different reasons.

Peated? Sweet, I love BenRiach peated. Actually I typically go for their peated malt, as their unpeated usually takes a longer time to really amp up.

Port cask? Yeah, I’m biased, I love these.

Well this seems like a no brainer. However I have been burnt before. Let’s see how this tastes, shall we?

Price: N/A at the LCBO

Region: Speyside

Cask No. 2047

Cask Type: Port pipe

Distillation date: 18 March 2008

Bottling date: 01 June 2017

Abv: 63.2%

Colour: 5YR 5/8

Nose: Cranberry candle, walnut, orange cake/orange chocolate, fudge

Wow, lovely nose on this one. There’s a mixture of more orange than I’m used to from a port cask, and that lovely chocolate that you can get from peated malts that are older.

Water brings out even more chocolate. Man, now I want chocolate. Stupid trying not to eat chocolate.

Taste: Cranberry white chocolate fudge, burnt caramel, cinnamon apple muffin, raisin buttertart

More fudge. Great consistency with the nose. You get more of a sweet, light white chocolate rather than chocolate elements.

There’s also some great caramels and raisins. This makes you want more. Water just amps up the caramel.

Finish: Honeydew melon, orange sorbet, mint jelly, brine

The finish is oddly light and fruity, with a little bit of mint and brine. It’s like a completely different dram, like that time I was blindfolded and served half a pizza and then a fruit salad.

What? We all have hobbies, don’t judge.

Conclusion: An odd dram, that’s for certain, but honestly, beyond a weird finish, this is really, really good. A must buy, almost.

I have to say all the sweets and chocolate were balanced. Nothing goes over the top. Assuming the finish doesn’t throw you off, buy this. It’s a good young malt.

86/100

Scotch review #891, Speyside review #257, Whisky Network review #1423