Benriach The Smoky 10 Year Old 700ml

Benriach The Smoky 10 Year Old is a peated Speyside single malt Scotch whisky from the Benriach distillery. A mix of peated and unpeated spirit is matured for at least ten years in bourbon barrels, Jamaican rum casks and toasted virgin oak, and it is bottled at 46% ABV.

Buy Benriach The Smoky 10 Year Old Online in New Zealand

Benriach was founded in 1898 near Elgin, in the north of Speyside, and has made peated spirit since the 1970s, which sets it apart from most of its neighbours. The Smoky Ten, as the distillery calls it, is the smoky partner to The Original Ten. The rum casks are the unusual part: they add a tropical sweetness that sits well with the smoke, while the toasted virgin oak adds spice. The peat here is soft and sweet, closer to a smoked fruit glaze than to the seaweed and tar of a coastal Islay malt. That makes it a good first step into smoky whisky, and a sweeter change for those who already drink peat. Those after more depth could look at the Smoky Twelve.

Benriach’s own tasting notes:

Nose: Ripe orchard fruit syrup, smoked honey glaze and oak spice.

Palate: Smoked applewood, honey maple and spiced pear.

Finish: Fruit and smoked oak.

Try it neat or with a few drops of water. It also makes a good smoky highball over ice with soda water. Pair it with smoked salmon, roast pork with apple sauce or a hard cheese.