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| Snow Joke: My Trip To Benromach |
One of the
scariest drives I have ever done in my life was early one March morning from
Perth to Forres, a small town near Inverness. It was a Monday and I was up
around 4am with the aim of arriving at the Benromach distillery at 8am, to start a
day working at the distillery to learn about how the distillery works and document it
for an article in Whisky Magazine.
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| Benromach in the Snow |
However, just
after waking I threw back the curtains to see somewhere in the region of 36 inches of snow clogging
up the path below. Scurrying outside, I quickly dug a path for my car to exit
on to the well-salted main road and began the slow drive up the A9. As I passed
Dalwhinnie distillery the thermometer in my car showed -15 degrees centigrade.
To say it was cold would be an understatement.
After slipping and sliding all the way north from Perth, I arrived at
Benromach just in time for a pre-work cup of tea to warm my frozen bones. The sky
had tuned from granite to deep blue, and the white washed walls of the distillery
shone like platinum, a chimney in the yard reaching high into the sky,
providing a beacon for the angels to pop in and grab their share. I was glad to have risked the icy roads and
the deep snow to make it for the start of the day.
The history of
Benromach follows that of many other Scotch distilleries, closed by the
previous owners, United Distillers (now Diageo), in 1983 after the first
production started in 1898.
Ten years later, the local family
business of Gordon & MacPhail (G&M) were looking to expand from bottling and
blending into distilling and the opportunity to purchase the site came up.
Sadly, the distillery was little more than buildings, as the equipment
(including the stills) had all been removed.
Seeing this as an opportunity,
G&M embarked on an ambitious programme of installing an entirely new
operation inside, developing a new still shape and keeping all the production
in a single, linear line.
The aim was to make Speyside whisky as
it had been produced pre-1960’s- with a hint of smoke and this is what they
have achieved in the newly repackaged 10 Year Old:
Benromach – 10 Years Old – 43% abv - £29.28 here
Nose: There is certainly a hint of smoke on the nose of this wee
beastie. It is sweet, with a hint of orange citrus fruit (blood orange), some
icing sugar and raspberry. A touch of sandlewood. Very well balanced and
extremely inviting.
Palate: Banana bread, apricots in syrup and fig jam. The smoke is
not as prominent on the palate, but tingles away under some tinned peaches, runny
honey and vintage vanilla.
Finish: Rich rum cake and upside down pudding with a waft of smoke.
Overall: This is a fantastic whisky, it really it is. The hint of
smoke gives this more of an island element, but really only on the nose and the
finish; the palate is much more classic Speyside. How they can knock this out
at under £30 is beyond me. A must for anyone looking for a quality single malt
on a tight budget.
With production of the new style spirit
starting in 1998, it would be a while before any new mature stocks were ready
for the market. G&M were in luck however, as stocks of whisky from before
the closure already existed, enabling them to create a range of vintage
Benromach releases.
Benromach – 1976 Vintage – 46% abv - £415.80 here
Note: constructed from 1st Fill and Refill Sherry Casks
Nose: There is the Benromach DNA of orange blossom and red fruits,
but age has given this a freshness of green fruits (star fruit, gooseberry) and
cooking apple, dusted with cinnamon.
Palate: The orange blossom really flourishes here, with other red
fruits (red boiled sweets) and a slight hint of chilli jam. Milk chocolate dusted
with cocoa powder and praline coat the mouth as tropical fruits develop.
Finish: Sweet, with an abundance of red fruits.
Overall: A classic ‘old’ whisky, this gives you everything you’d
expect from a 1970’s sherried Speyside whisky.
If you haven’t experienced
Benromach before, you don’t need to get up at 4am and drive through thick snow,
risking life and limb to see the distillery. Save yourself the petrol money and
order a bottle of the 10 year old. I’m not sure that you’ll find a bottle of single
malt Scotch for much better value. And once you’ve fallen in love, start saving
for the 1974.