It’s been a shamefully long time since I got this sample in the mail. Viktorija and Kenny were kind enough to send some samples from the batch from spring to me and I left them hanging. There have been personal circumstances that would explain this, but let’s not go there in an otherwise rather cheerful situation. We’re reviewing whisky, after all!
Based on previous experiences, when whisky has been drawn from Palo Cortado, Fino or Manzanilla casks, I generally am automatically very interested. I tried some amazing ones in the past and only a few that were not so good. I like Benrinnes, this too based on quite a few encounters in the past.
Normally Benrinnes isn’t released by Diageo and used for their blended whiskies only. Luckily, there’s quite a few casks going around at Indie bottlers like Dràm Mòr. Good for us!
Sniff:
Banoffee pie, so a dry note of barley and banana sweetness and thickness. A whiff of glue and some apple show up later on. A little bit of grape seed bitterness too.
Sip:
The palate focuses more on the dry notes and leaves the sweetness behind for a little bit. There’s some left, but it’s mostly oak sap instead of banana. Porridge, graham crackers, dry apples, quite some oak too.
Swallow:
The finish is slightly different again. Dry with oak and barley, crackers. But there’s a sweetness that sits between sap and honey. Quite a long finish with a speck of pepper for bite.
For a Palo Cortado I am a tad surprised by the sweetness of the whisky, but luckily some of the drier characteristics come through as well. A very enjoyable dram, with enough character to stay interested for a while!
87/100
Available at DramTime for € 91.50