Benrinnes 23 Year Old 1995 Signatory for Jan Vissers

This is already the fifth edition in Jan Vissers’ so-called Italian Car Series. Yes, Jan has a soft spot for Italian race cars. The label sports a so-called ‘Sharknose’, a Ferrari 156 that Belgian racer Willy Meiresse drove to victory in the 1962 Grand Prix of Naples. It’s a single hogshead that was put to sleep on 17th October 1995 and bottled at a cask strength of 49.6% on 27th March 2019.

The nose is fairly sweet on lots of fruit and just a tad of oak. The skins of apples, vanilla, fresh peach, mandarin, but also pencil shavings, a truckload of honey and a hint of light brown sugar like the one you put on pancakes. It is very waxy. A textbook example of what good Benrinnes should smell like.

The drinking strength is just perfect! The mouth feel is rich and oily, wonderfully waxy and quite peppery. The cask has done a great job giving this whisky depth. Very summery on white and yellow fruit with some liquorice and camphor. Lovely fruitiness, mind you. This is summer in your glass.

The finish is just long enough to allow me to run back to my whisky cabinet and pour me another one.

If there were a Grand Prix for Benrinnes, this one would be on the podium indeed. Top class.

Find where to buy Benrinnes whisky