Scotch Whisky Review #245: Adelphi Selection Benrinnes 10 Year First Fill Sherry (2009)

Distillery: Benrinnes

Bottler: Adelphi

Region: Speyside

Age: 10 Year

ABV: 55.90%

Cask Type: First Fill Sherry Cask

Cask Number: #301814

Color: 1.9, Brown Sherry.

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Nose: Surprisingly salty and savory. It’s almost like a bit of a soy sauce based stir fry. A tinge of smoke, a bit of sherry. Bit of a pomegranate balsamic reduction.

Palate: Fairly earthy. A dry sherry and oak tannins. Something nearing on charcoal. Smoothes out with water. Chocolate rolls in as well.

Finish: Quick. Try. Tannins. Finishes like a dry wine.

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Conclusion: You see a first fill sherry Speyside whisky and you might have some expectations of what you’re going to get. You’re might be expecting it to be a sherry bomb or at least quite fruity and on the sweeter end of the spectrum. This is not that. The nose is rather savory with that note of soy sauce stir fry. There’s a bit of smoke, which is a nice surprise, as well. It tastes heavily earthy with something that tastes quite a lot like charcoal in here as well. There is sherry here, it is the drier variant, and it does work to balance out the savory and earthy notes out decently. The end result is a whisky that isn’t bad, by any definition of the word, simply unexpected. Would I buy a bottle though? I’m not sure.

Final Score: 78.

Scotch Whisky Review #245, Speyside Review #95, Whisky Network Review #375

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.