06/07/2023 Benromach

Benromach d.1969 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice, b. ca. 1989): the miniature does not indicate the bottling year, but Gordon & MacPhail did a big bottle with the same livery in 1989, so it is rather safe to assume this is the same. Nose: well, well! Burnt wood, embers in the rain, calcinated twigs, campfire, the morning after. That is soon joined by mellow menthol and growing peppermint, and balanced by walnut oil and polished dashboards. The back of the sinuses pick up something more organic that may be a mix of sink funk, vase water, and silt; it reads horrible, but it is subtle enough to not be a bother. In no time, that fades away, and makes room for some kind of strawberry paste, enhanced with a drop of furniture polish. The second nose sees hay, or straw bales, dry, dusty, and heart warming, used farming tools, not particularly old, stored in the barn, after a sunny day's work. There are also piles of twigs and branches (not logs), drying in preparation for the winter. Further nosing brings varnished wood, and I detect the faintest note of white-fleshed tropical fruit (dragon fruit, mangosteen, cherimoya), in the long run. Mouth: mildly astringent in the attack, the palate delivers a similar cocktail of woods polished and burnt, strawberries, and peppermint. Perhaps it has grated ginger too. The (dried) strawberries are magnified, here, yet they do not come alone: bitter hazel wood supports it adequately, the bitterness never becoming a negative talking point. The second sip is just as impressive, and fruitier, with apricots, macerating in juice in an open-top wooden cask of a certain age. Woodworm-eaten old furniture appears, as does slightly-caramelised jam, stuck to the bottom of the metal pot. Finish: robust, woody, filled with dried berries and wood spices (ginger powder, wasabi, asafoetida). The wood and its spices impart a clear bitterness (think: chipboards) that does not detract from the enjoyment. It is a lasting finish that sparkles on the tongue long after swallowing. The second sip has liqueur-boosted toffee, mocha-and-berries custard, sprinkled with coal dust, sooty wooden buckets, apricot jam turned black on the hob, and charred fruit stones that become progressively fruitier and fruitier. This starts good, if perhaps unassuming, but ends up big and rustic. Duhlishes! 8/10