SGwhisky's Whisky of the Month: June 2011

SGwhisky Presents: Whisky of the Month for June 2011: BenRiach!


Dear readers, as promised in the June edition of Singapore Whisky Monthly, SGwhisky is starting a whole new segment from this month onwards, known as SGwhisky's Whisky of the Month. This segment will go on all month, and it includes in depth views into the distillery itself, its style and, of course, tasting notes of some of its releases! The whole point is to raise awareness of the different brands and styles of whisky that one can find in Singapore. As SGwhisky is quick to say always, Singapore may be small, but it definitely has a vibrant and rapidly growing whisky scene.

So for the inaugural SGwhisky Whisky of the Month, SGwhisky is proud to present: BenRiach distillery!

Credits: de.wikipedia.org

Distillery Information (From Malt Madness):

Name: BenRiach

Region: Speyside

Founded: 1898

Ownership: Billy Walker and Others

Address: Longmorn, Elgin, LMorayshire, IV30 3SJ, Scotland

Website: www.benriachdistillery.co.uk

SGwhisky's inaugural whisky of the month for the month of June 2011 is the up-and-coming Speyside distillery, BenRiach. Founded in 1898 by John Duff (who also built Glenlossie and Longmorn distilleries), BenRiach has had an extremely patchy history, littered with periods of closure and numerous leadership changes. In fact, most of its owners decided to close it almost as soon as they acquired it! This was the story of BenRiach till 2004, when Billy Walker and his partners purchased BenRiach distillery.

Since Billy Walker's takeover, BenRiach has grown from strength to strength, placing itself firmly amongst the most progressive distillers in Scotland. Besides a smart revamp of the packaging and label, BenRiach has also led the way in wood finishes, being one of the distilleries in Scotland who has invested the most in experimenting with wood finishes. 

BenRiach Madeira Wood Finish

The result of this heavy experimentation is a line of wood finishes, ranging from Port to Madeira, Pedro Ximenez to Rum. Whilst quite a few distilleries in the world have experimented with one or a few of such finishes, BenRiach is one of the few that have done almost all of them! Whilst the outcome does differ, with some tasting a bit rough and some being absolute gems, credit has to go to BenRiach for such a great effort to open a new frontier in whisky production.

The BenRiach Curiositas. Credit: For peat's Sake

However, BenRiach's innovation does not stop there, on top of the experimentation with wood finishes, BenRiach has also done quite a bit of experimentation with peat levels. Whilst the BenRiach's standard expressions have only a bit of peat in it, BenRiach has released numerous expressions with whisky containing a higher peat level. The BenRiach Curiositas, and its older brother the Authenticas, are two examples of heavily peated BenRiach expressions.

But wait, who says they had to stop there? Why not use the Peated whisky and finish them in the special casks like we did the normal expressions of BenRiach? Yes, in fact they did! Almost every wood finish has spawned a pair of twins, a peated version and an unpeated version! These twins offer a unique insight into how wood finishes interact with different types of single malt whisky, and how well the flavours blend. 

So what is the result here? SGwhisky daresay the result is a comprehensive selection of whisky that reflects a dynamic and modern leadership and outlook towards whisky. So often this could lead to the dilution of the distillery's character, but BenRiach's standard releases show that there is stuff about the whisky they put into casks for finishing. 

BenRiach in Singapore

As this is a Singapore blog at the end of the day, it is important to show how BenRiach fares in Singapore. It is not one of the juggernauts of course, but it is making inroads, especially in the specialist whisky scene. Distributed by local dealers Drinks Fellas, its owners have tried to increase the popularity and visibility of BenRiach for a while now. BenRiach, for example, was at Whisky Live 2011 this year, and was the only distillery that had gotten one of their very own people to come down. James Cowan shared his insight into the brand, and brought his unique experience to the event.

James Cowan

Whisky-wise, BenRiach also holds a special place for Singapore's whisky market. It is one of a few brands in Singapore to have actually released 'Singapore Only' single cask selections of their whisky. SGwhisky covered the 'Generations 1988' release that arrived in Singapore's shores earlier in the month, and this is indeed something worth shouting about for such a small country like ours!

So throughout the course of this week, SGwhisky will be bringing you tasting notes from some of the distillery's releases. It will taste a few of the twins, as well as some special distillery releases that are worth trying. It will also try the standard expressions, and give its take on the distillery style and quality. Keep your eyes on this space as SGwhisky pulls out all the stops for its first ever whisky of the month!