A 1994 BR single cask finished in Virgin oak. Yes, The Benriach have jumped on the new virgin oak bandwagon, and while It can add some flavor to whisky, one has to wonder, why the original cask was not good enough to have been bottled without it being re-casked into a virgin oak cask, to be “enhanced”. Virgin oak can add vanilla, but can also over-dominate when used in excess. Let’s see if this is the case here:
Benriach 1994 Cask #4385 Virgin Oak , 55.50% abv (sold out)
Nose: lovely combination of vanilla, sugar and exotic fruit salad: Mango, melon, cinnamon on top of yummy crème Brule and old style toffee candy and sweet syrup. some wood shaving, sweet shavings that is..
Palate: Sweet nectar, with a bit of nutty side to it, again, a lot of sugar, and the exotic fruit, mainly very ripe melon, mango, and some milk chocolate.
Finish: Sugar, Melon, and fruit salad with vanilla and sugar syrup.
I liked this one just “ok” when i first tasted it, but after an initial session, I really loved it. All those exotic fruit and melon were just lovely. Indeed a very nice whisky all over, and I do wonder how this cask had tasted prior to the Finish. But I guess we shall never know.