“Peat Bomb”
Country: Scotland
Region: Highland - Speyside
Brand: BenRiach Solstice (Heavily Peated - Port Finish - 2nd Edition)
Type: Single Malt Whisky
Age: 17 Years
ABV: 50 %
Colour: Reddish Copper/Mahogany
Nose: A combination of Peat, Smoke and Red Fruit. I find Earthy Peat, Wet Clay, Stale Cigar Smoke, Dirty Ashes, Cheap Leather, Salt Water, Cured Meat, Rubber, BBQ Sauce, Oak, Pine Needles, Burned Toast, Treacle, Caramel, Red Apple, Black Currants, Cranberries and traces of fortified Red Wine and Orange Flavoured Chocolate. It reminds me a bit of the Longrow Peated Red Cabernet Sauvignon Cask but this BenRiach is less elegant and not quite as balanced. The Alcohol is not fully integrated.
Palate: Quite Dry. It follows the Nose with Peat, Smoke, Ashes, Burned Toast, Dried Fruits, Peanuts, Caramel/Toffee, Brown Sugar, Oak, Salted Butter, Red Apple, Water Melon, Spiced Red Wine, Pepper and Licorice.
Finish: Quite Long, mostly Dry, Warming and a bit Meaty towards the end with Toasted Cereals, Earth, Peat, Smoke, Cigar Ashes, Salt, Licorice, Pepper, Oak, Dried Herbs, Cough Syrup, Cured Meat, Lemon an a trace of Plastic.
I added a bit of Water. This enhances the Red Fruit on the Nose but does not do the Peat any justice. On the Palate you gain some Spice but the Finish becomes way too short. You can carefully try out a few drops but I prefer to sip it neat.
Rating: 84.5
Nose: 21.5 - Taste: 21 - Finish: 21 - Overall: 21
General Remarks: The BenRiach distillery is located in the heart of the Speyside between Elgin and Rothes. It was founded around 1898 by John Duff, the owner of the nearby Longmorn distillery. Today it's one of the few distilleries with its own Malting Floors. Since 2004, it is independently owned by BenRiach Distillery Company. Most of their production goes into the Chivas Regal Blends. Just like the original Solstice 15 Release, this 2nd Edition was distilled with Heavily Peated Barley. The Spirit matured in Ex-Bourbon Casks before being finished in Tawny Port Casks. It sells at an average 85 US Dollars, is Uncoloured and not Chill-Filtered.
Drinking Experience Neat: Good
Conclusion: I like it when young, juicy Peat and Sherry and/or Fruit meet in a good Single Malt. That's not the case here. In this 17 Year old BenRiach you will find a more mature, slightly tired and Earthy Peat in combination with a quite strong Oak influence and some assorted Spices and Herbs. Especially on the Palate and in the Finish I would have liked to find some more (Fresh) Fruit. Maybe younger Single Malts would benefit from a finish in fortified Wine Casks while more mature Single Malts might enjoy a Finish with Cabernet Sauvignon or perhaps a Gamay from the Beaujolais Region. This way you would combine old and young/fresh and could end up with a nicely balanced Malt. But only in case you would like to give your Single Malt a Red Wine finish of course. I'm not an expert in this field and I might be completely wrong. I'm just writing down my thoughts as they appear while sipping this BenRiach. To sum things up, I find that the Solstice Port Finish is indeed heavily peated. I don't have any problems with that if there are enough Sweet Flavours around to create a balance. As it is, Peat, Ashes, Wood and Spices are just a tad too dominant for my taste.
Jan van den Ende April 1, 2014
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