Benrinnes 20 Year Old 1997 The Nectar of the Daily Drams

This Benrinnes appeared on the market last year, bottled by The Nectar of the Daily Drams, and is already being considered something of a legendary release. Let’s find out what the fuss is all about. The color – as dark as cola – is very exciting.

Ooh, I have only just put my nose in the glass and know what the fuss is all about, for this is a very intense, sherried nose that leaves nothing whole of the typically soft, fruity character of this Speyside malt. The sherry cask is very dominant, resulting in a dark and sweet nose full of raisins, dates, leather, coffee, motor oil and some earthy notes. It’s almost as if I have put my nose in a recently dumped sherry cask. Cloves, cinnamon and – to much lesser extent – black pepper. Little sherry monster.

OMG, this is cough syrup on steroids the palate. You can almost chew this. A touch extreme, to be honest. But what a palate! Cooked fruit, beef jerky, cinnamon and chili. Goes from soft to powerful. The spices join the fray. Deep sherry, this is. Midpalate it turns very dry and even a touch medicinal. Medium sherry monster, if you know what I mean.

The finish is a party. Very long on dark and sweet, but spicy notes.

Boy, oh, boy! This is by far the most complex Benrinnes I have tried so far, but to be fair: it’s not the malt, it’s the grand and extremely active sherry cask.

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