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Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Single Malt Report: Benromach 25 year old (2004)

On Monday, I reviewed Benromach 10 year old 100 proof.
On Tuesday, I reviewed Benromach 1999 Origins batch 2.
Today, I'm reviewing the discontinued Benromach 25 year old release.


Benromach distillery has been mothballed and passed around quite a bit.
  • It was built in 1898 just before the Pattison's disaster took its toll on the industry, but its owners (who also owned the now-forgotten Glen Nevis distillery in Campbeltown) kept the place open.
  • Thirteen years later, it was sold to Harvey McNair.
  • Three years later, it was mothballed.
  • Five years later, it was reopened.
  • Then it was sold to John Joseph Calder...
  • ...who immediately flipped it to a group that called itself Benromach Distillery Limited
  • Twelve years later it was mothballed.
  • Six years later it was reopened.
  • The following year Joseph Hobbs bought the distillery...
  • ...then immediately flipped it to National Distillers (yep, the US folks)
  • Fifteen years later ND sold it to proto-Diageo (DCL/UD).
  • Thirty years later, 1983 (if you're keeping track), it was mothballed again.
  • Ten years later, Gordon & MacPhail bought it.
  • Five years later, it was reopened.
It's been eighteen years since then, and Benromach has not been closed or resold. Thank goodness. The 25 year old single malt I'm reviewing today was bottled by the Gordon & MacPhail ownership, but was distilled and casked by United Distillers. Thank you to Florin (a prince) for this generous sample.


Distillery: Benromach
Ownership: Gordon & MacPhail
Ownership at time of distillation: United Distillers
Region: Speyside (Findhorn)
Age: minimum 25 years
Maturation: refill American oak hogsheads
Bottling year: 2004
Alcohol by Volume: 43%
Chillfiltered? ???
Caramel Colored? Not much, if any

Its color is a mild yellow gold, which has me thinking there's a minimum of e150a in here. Lovely musty warehouse notes arrive first in the nose. Then caramel, farmy peat and a little bit of roasted malt. Some smaller notes of peaches, yogurt, popcorn and buttery (American) biscuits. It's all quite delicate. The palate is malty, spicy and mildly sweet. Oranges, cinnamon, powdered ginger, cayenne pepper and vanilla extract. It really improves with time. The citrus gets bolder and tarter. There's a nice transition: bitter bite → toffee kiss. The finish is a bit short. There's the musty warehouse and a whiff of smoke. Lemon candy, malt and gingery spice.

A much gentler mammal than this week's other two Benromachs, the 25 year old's rough edges have been mostly trimmed off with time and down proofing. Its peating is very subtle, but there is more oak present than I had expected. It's not particularly complex, but it hits most of its notes well. The finish is the one disappointing part, and I wonder if that's mostly due to it being watered down. Long-aged whiskies don't swim well, and had this batch originally had a mid 50s abv, then a not inconsiderable amount of water would have been applied before bottling. Even though that's just speculation, it's time for you to sing the song with me...Had they bottled this whisky at 46%abv...

Availability - Auctions/secondary market
Pricing - ???
Rating - 84

1 comment:

  1. I think this was the first 20+ year-old bottle that I purchased, way back in 2012. It was a small fortune at the time, $100. I opened it full of excitement and anticipation! I was shocked to find out that tasting a 25-year old whisky did not radically change my life. This and a companion Glen Grant 25yo opened at about the same time, also from G&M and also watered down, have marked my attitude towards older (22+yo) whiskies: chances are they're way overpriced for what you get. Of course, in the meanwhile a 23-25yo distillery bottled whisky costs in the $1,000 range, which is just insane.

    I seemed to like this whisky well enough though: "Very aromatic, toasted grains, bakery spices. However, it lacks some energy. 80-84pts"