Today I’m reviewing a very unique single cask Benriach. This one was bottled specifically for the Singapore market. 484 bottles all in all. This bottle has a very interesting story. As it appears the Singapore market is a rather important market for scotch whisky, and there are quite some special cask bottlings being released there. I cam across a lovely whisky in Singapore by the name of “DrinkFellas”,though the blog.
They liked my previous Benriach tasting notes, and dropped me a line to say so. We started discussing whisky, and I looked at their site, and found some very interesting such bottlings, two of which really interested me. This one, and another 1988 Barolo cask bottling. As you know it’s not easy shipping whisky to Israel, let alone from Singapore. Shipping prices and customs do pose an issues, but fortunately a good whisky friend and member of the Whisky Israel Tasting Society (WITS) and a contributing guest blogger from time to time, Richard, was frequenting Singapore due to business and kindly agreed to bring over a bottle or two for me (he was rewarded with a healthy sample of both, worry not!). All this happened a few months ago, and here are the first tasting notes of the younger cask, an 1990 Sherry cask. many thanks for Jack from DrinkFellas for getting in touch, and allowing me to get a bottle otherwise impossible to locate elsewhere.
The BenRiach Limited 1990 Release Singapore Cask 3805 ,50.9% ABV, $231
Nose: Sherry no doubt. Quite heavy with some apple vinegar in addition to dried fruit. Plums, prunes and spices. A sweet N’ Sour mix kind of nose, not unappealing, but it should be given some time to rest in the glass before diving in. After 10 minutes, most of the apple vinegar is gone.
Palate: Bitter sweet. Mouth coating with a lot of dark chocolate covered almonds and black tea. quite some alcohol bite too.A bit of water might make this one a bit nicer and approachable.
Finish: Alcohol filled Pralines. With prune sauce.
All in all this is a very enjoyable single cask at full strength. After an initial vinegary start, and given enough time to breath in the glass, you’re in for a very good malt.
Score: 85/100
Expect a review of its “Older” brother , the 1988 Barolo cask, in the coming days.
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