Time for another lovely Boutique-y bottling and of one of my Favourite distilleries out there : The BenRiach. as always, with Boutique-y bottlings the hand drawn labels are cool, this one features a monkey in the malting room. as you well know
BenRiach is one of the very few distilleries who still malt a small proportion of their own barley. In the olden days , the workers whose job was to turn the barley over all day long would get a hunchback as a result of the labour intensive work, this hunch became known as a Monkey Shoulder. Only 140 bottles of this batch were 
produced.
BenRiach – Batch 1 (That Boutique-y) , 48.20% , £49.95
Nose : It’s lovely. With candied fruit. Vanilla. Great sherry influence but not monstrous. A bit of exotics. Candied pear. Wee lemon. Dust and smoke. splendid.
Palate: Lovely. Zesty. Peppery then getting sweet with sherry fruit and malt. Sugar. Wood and sprinkled with light cinnamon. Wee peat , more of the earthy kind. Not medicinal or coastal.
Finish : Wood. Sweet fruit , sugar and spice sprinkled with crushed almonds on a pie.
A true excellent dram, Loved every drop of this one. and very recommended.