Scotch Whisky Review #413: Benromach 11 Year Cask Strength Batch 1 (2007)
Distillery: Benromach.
Region: Speyside.
Age: 11 Year. Distilled in 2007 and bottled in 2018.
ABV: 58.2%
Cask Type: First Fill Sherry & Bourbon.
Price: Sample courtesy of /u/_asipper.
Color: 1.4, Tawny.
This sample was reviewed blind. The label was marked “Equality” but no hints were given beyond that it was a malt whisky.
Nose: This definitely has some peat but it seems to be a fairly mild amount. The nose is full of these lovely roast meat juices. It really reminds me of drippings from a prime rib all soaked up with a popover/Yorkshire pudding.
Palate: It goes down fairly smoothly at full strength and actually feels a touch muted. All I get is a bit of sherry and a bit of ash, not much else going on. With water, the ash notes gets stronger. There is also something that tastes like the extra charred bits from burnt ends as well. With some more water, things get a bit muted again.
Finish: It is quite long. There is a ton of cigar ash and smoke along with those extra charred bits from burnt ends.
Guess: It has got to be matured in some kind of sherry cask. For distillery, I’m going to guess Caol Ila or Lagavulin due to the all of the ash. Part of me wonders if it is peated Benriach, but I’ll stick with my guess. Around 10-12 years of age and bottled around 50%, probably a touch less.
Reveal: Benromach 11 Year Cask Strength Batch 1 (2007)
Conclusion: After getting this reveal, I’m honestly shocked seeing the ABV on this. 58.2% is certainly high enough you’d expect to feel it but honestly this tasted significantly weaker than that. This is my second exposure to Benromach, the other being the 10 year, and whatever they did to this one seemed like it was on the verge of greatness. The nose is a touch soft but the notes of prime rib drippings was fantastic. The finish was nice with the cigar and burnt ends combining for a nice earthy, slightly meaty experience. The palate is where this is really let down. It just feels muted and water seems to do nothing to wake it up. Perhaps I should have added even more water to drown it, but this really felt like it never wanted to wake up. Pleasant overall but I’m left wanting more from it.
Final Score: 79.
Note: I’ve made some changes to the scoring legend, the descriptions have been updated slightly to match my actual scoring a little better.
Scotch Whisky Review #413, Speyside Review #153, Whisky Network Review #567
Scoring Legend:
- 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
- 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky and I will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection if feasible.
- 85-89: Very good to amazing, almost the complete product and I’m likely wanting a bottle or two.
- 80-84: Quite good, pleasant overall though there is usually a few things that could be improved still.
- 75-79: Good, enjoyable to drink but ultimately flawed.
- 70-74: Alright, solid and 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.
Scotch & Sheen 
