After quite a few exceptional Older whiskies released last year and reviewed here such as the the lovely 1974 vintage , and the 35 year old (which was lovely but not quite as brilliant) comes the latest offering in the Beromach range – the 1975 vintage . 1975 is quite a special year for me (having been born in 1975), So i was very glad to try another interesting whisky made that year. The whisky comes from a refill American hogshead and has been aged for 41 years in the cask. As expected the liquid is not cheap (1250 quid RRP), but you can find some shops already selling it under RRP (Edencroft is selling those for £1050). Let’s get tasting…
Benromach 1975 vintage, single cask # 3434 , 49.9% abv , RRP £1,250
Nose: A lovely nose on this one, with quite a bit of oak, mint, and a certain waxy feeling, in addition to old polished wood, white pepper and ginger powder which adds a nice savory edge to it. This is quite gentle, and not ultra peppery, but quite balanced. On the 2nd wave of sensations it reveals a fruity edge with ripe apricot in sweet syrup, stewed apple and a hint of red grapefruit pith. Really nice stuff with enough complexity, but it could use more oomph, IMHO.
Palate: Very good stuff, with a bigger body than I had anticipated from the nose : Citrus infused milk chocolate, orange peel, and some black tea leaves and a touch of tobacco , black pepper, clove and more ginger-y zing, there’s also some bitter cocoa, and maybe a hint of coffee grounds, a touch of mint, and wood resin, some old benches, and a final touch of stewed apple / apricot.
Finish: Quite long, and dry. with wood resin, cocoa, ripe oranges and a hint of smoke.
Bottom line:
This is lovely stuff indeed, it’s balanced, complex, and shows enough ‘age’ but without being too woody, there’s a nice fruity edge to it, in addition to the chocolate / cocoa and of course the smoke adds a nice touch. So, Do I prefer this to the sherry cask 1974 vintage? Probably not, but the other one is only marginally better, as far as I am concerned. Excellent stuff, at a high price, but very very well made. Benromach goes from strength to strenth, and they deliver. Having said that, 1000 quid or so, is a lot of money to pay for a bottle even this good.
Score: 91/100