Benrinnes 1989 15 Year Old Mackillop's

Benrinnes 23 Year Old 1985

Benrinnes is a whisky you don’t see very often. It is one of those anonymous work horses for Diageo that produces bulk malts for blends like Johnnie Walker, J&B, Crawfords and the like. There are just a few official bottlings and this is one of them. It hit the shelves in 2009 as part of Diageo’s yearly Special Release and matured on sherry...

Score 86/100

Benrinnes 32 Year Old 1988 The Maltman

The Meadowside Blending Company releases their own ranges under the labels ‘The Maltman’ and ‘The Grainman’. This 32 year old Benrinnes was distilled in the year I came of age and was bottled last year at cask strength. The sherry butt still yielded 506 bottles. Boy, will you look at that color! It’s the one but oldest Benrinnes (in maturation...

Score 88/100

Benrinnes SMWS 36.58 - Chilli porridge sprinkled with flowers

Benrinnes in Aberlour has gone through many changes since the original distillery was founded in 1826. Firstly, in 1829, it was swept away in a flood. In 1834 a new distillery (the Lyne of Ruthrie) was built a few miles away. A bad fire occured in 1896; then completely rebuilt in the 1950s. Interestingly, with its six stills, it does a partial...

Score 83/100

Benrinnes 1996, 18 years Carn Mor Strictly Limited

Another in Diageo's stable of ugly stepchildren distilleries, with the likes of Dailuaine, Blair Athol, Teaninich and up to recently Mortlach which got to finally graduate from the class. Of note is the use of house malted barley from a Saladin box installed from 1964 to 1984 at which point malt was brought in rather than handled on site. A kind...

Score 86/100