BenRiach 27yo 1984-2012 Peated PX Finish

This is another sample I obtained from one of those online sources. As this is only a 30mL sample take this review with a grain of salt. On the night I tasted it I put it in a line up with a BenRiach 10yo from the 1990’s, two different batches of BenRiach 10yo Curiositas, and a bottle of the BenRiach 12yo Heredotus Fumosus. This glass stood head and shoulders above everything . . . by a long way!

Nose: Super peaty and very sweet fruit: dark strawberries, plumbs, figs, and dates. The smoke is wonderfully integrated with the fruit. This is the peatiest whisky of the night!. This is a wonderful marriage of peat and Pedro Ximinez. Now sweeter notes are coming to the fore: brown sugar covered figs, caramel covered red apples, and honey covered dates. There is that characteristic dry BenRiach leather smell in the background, but you have to hunt for it. My enjoyment level is on par with the L22. With a lid back on top for a few minutes the peat charges back up . . . and BANG I love it again! Now the peat is awesome and I am getting a wonderful honey coating goodness. This is a nose that needs some time and a cover to reach it’s full potential.

Taste: Very dry with lots of dry fruit: dry figs, dates, and raisins. However, there is also this prickly peat and wood presence. It is like a buffet of dry dark fruits on a very dirty earthen serving plate of peat, wood, moss, and woad.

Finish: Big peat! Powerful and peaty. This is like a wave of peat being dragged over you. The image I get is of a magician pulling a tablecloth off of you (crazy and unhelpful I know). Long peaty finish . . . it is like standing under a giant fan that is churning peat smoke over you. You are left with wonderful embers of peat and baked fruit in your mouth. Again, the marriage of the peat and sherry is amazing. It manages to be both sweet and dry at the same time.

Complexity, Balance: Great complexity and my kind of balance! The peat is out of control as is the sherry influence. Stunning after 27 years. I want a bottle straight away! Looks like I am at a loss.

Aesthetic experience: Amazing dark strawberry color. Almost port color. If you told me it was finished in a port cask I would believe you. And the legs on this . . . to die for! This bottle . . . I like the style but it ain’t sexy. Still, points for single cask and cask strength.

Conclusion: This is a bottle I really want. I can’t believe that BenRiach was making this heavily peated of a malt back in the 80’s. This is why I like samples. It allows you to try a single cask or small batch before you buy. This is why I hate samples: once I finally picked it up and got around to tasting it . . . the bottles seems to be long gone. From this one sample . . . this bottle seems like it was a killer. Wish I could pick it up one of the 258 bottles . . . (sigh).

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