Benriach 13 Year Old Maderensis Madeira Finish

I'll confess, I do love a bit of Latin, I think it adds mystery probably because I can't understand a fucking word of it. Rather like that dead language there's loads going on with this whisky and some of it is rather difficult to understand. This allows the power of suggestion to take hold, and one must be careful when trying to put in to words such a challenging and deep-running dram. NOSE: Very heavy, a sniff that keeps on giving; you get alcohol at the end just as you get alcohol at the beginning. Peat, and lots of it, You also (I think) get fruit, maybe red grapes, raisins? I'm reminded of wine dregs, maybe in the bottom of an oak barrel. MOUTH: Thunderous, smoke, peat, no coal or oil which i often get with peaty whisky (may be associative, but not a drop of it here), there's a sweetness at the back and combined with the cloying nature of a very heavy dram it put me in mind of syrup or honey, more in a general sense than a specific one. "Smacks" with a little citrus. There's an awful lot going on here - somehow it works. AFTER:Enormously long in my experience with a real dazzle from throat to tongue that puts me in mind of that deep alcohol breath at the start. Once familiar with the dram i just got a feeling it was "settling into itself" which i always rather enjoy, but there is arguably a new emergence here or there. I think this bottle is an astonishing achievement, maybe not a genuine top 1% dram, but different - very different and that's what the brand is about i suppose. Get 'em while they're hot!

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