Benrinnes 17 Year Old 1978 G&M Centenary Reserve

The Centenary Reserve from Gordon & Macphail saw the light of day in 1995, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the independent bottler with their HQ in Elgin. I tasted a Caol Ila from this range, which was absolutely stunning. I wonder if this Benrinnes will be equally good. Oh, lest I forget, this is my very first Benrinnes ever!

The nose is fresh and fruity, very sweet and oily. It has, surprising for a Speysider, a hint of peat. But the weirdest element, although completely inoffensive, is cucumber. The fruit translates into pineapple on syrup and coconut. The whole is somewhat light and docile.

On the palate, it starts of sweet and soft, but that does not last. Midpalate, it suddenly turns very bitter. Mildly spicy. Think white pepper and ginger. The fruit has left the building.

The finish is short, but too bitter to be really good. A hint of licquorice.

The nose was promising, but it did not please on the palate. Not everything G&M touches turns into gold, it seems. From the top of my head, I remember this range also containing a Balblair, Highland Park, St Magdalene and Mortlach. Hopefully those will do better.

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