Benriach Curiositas Peated 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Only a handful of Scottish distilleries still make their own malt. One of them is Benriach. The maltings stand beside the distillery and twice a week the prize barley is delivered to be steeped, spread and raked until it begins to sprout. Gentle heat then works its magic and the raw grain becomes the essential ingredient of a Scotch Malt Whisky. The distillery manager oversees the slow and deliberate crafting process of BenRiach whisky – managing the transformation from malted barley to wash, to distilled spirit and into high quality oak casks, some sourced from the great sherry bodegas of Spain. Re opening in 1965 after a 65 year absence from the market, the Benriach distillery was virtually rebuilt by The Glenlivet Distillers Ltd. in 1985 and enlarged to four stills. Its product is highly regarded by blenders and has been available as an 'official' single malt bottling only since 1994.

Benriach “Curiositas” uses a heavily peated malted barley as the cereal varietal to produce a unique, fresh, peated expression. This rare peated single malt, from the Heartland of Speyside, has wonderful overtones of peat reek, combined cleverly with a background of fruity, floral, heathery notes and an appealing presence of oak wood in the finish. Traditionalists believe that peated malts achieve optimum balance of peat-bittersweet and oak infusion, after 10 years of maturation. In fact peated BenRiach is a return to the original Speyside character and flavour of malts typical of the nineteenth century - a distinctive and welcome addition to the Speyside scene. 40.00%

Other reviews...  Nose: Peat. Smoky and turfy moving into coal tar/bitumen with real baked fruit sweetness behind. Opens up into dried heather and turf. Palate: Immense smoke, then sweet rich mouthfeel with nuttiness and a slight medicinal edge. Finish Cereal and smoke. Long. Bitumen. Embers. Comment: A shock to find something this phenolic in this part of the world – but a great dram. Rating: 8/10
-   www.whiskymag.com

Other reviews… The opening aroma is pleasingly smoky and soot-like, then the bouquet opens up to include aromas of creosote, olive brine and cigarette ash. The palate entry is warming, nougaty sweet and sap-like; at midpalate the chunky flavor profile offers a well-integrated marriage of barley malt and sweet smokiness/peatiness. Finishes on a sweet, grainy note. Best Buy. Rating: 90-95
-  www.wineenthusiast.com

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