For a refill bourbon cask whisky, this one has a rather dark hue to it. Without tasting it I would have guessed this to be a sherry cask. If you ever wonder why information on labels is important, here is one thing.
Dràm Mòr bottled this 10 year old version of Diageo’s blend focused distillery recently, and it has now made the leap across the North Sea and is available in Austria. Of course, with their strict export regulations (open borders my ass) this is of exactly zero help to us in the rest of Europe, but who knows, it might spread.
Sniff:
There’s a crisp, slightly chalky note of sweetened aniseed on the nose. Some bay leaf, dry oak shavings and grist. In the background there’s lemon and apple. Slightly burned pound cake.
Sip:
The palate arrives very dryly, with lots of oak, grist, almond flour. After a couple of seconds a peppery notes changes from fresh black pepper to hotter chillies.
Swallow:
The finish mellows quickly but leaves all the dryness. A hint of copper, barley, black pepper lingers longest.
This is a surprisingly nice dram from Benrinnes and Dràm Mòr. I didn’t go in with high expectations, although I’m not entirely sure why. Possibly because those younger Benrinnes’ have not been delivering a lot over the last couple of years. This one does, however. A rather complex whisky for its ten years of maturation, with lots of lovely flavors to be discovered!
87/100