Benrinnes 15 Years Old (whic – Whiskycircle)

Benrinnes 15 Years Old (whic - Whiskycircle) is a 15 year old single cask Benrinnes from the Speyside distillery, drawn from a single ex-Bourbon cask. This release was bottled by whic, the German online retailer and Whiskycircle club that selects single casks for in-house labels including Architecture of Taste. The release was bottled in 2018, with an outturn of just 31 bottles, for the German market, at 53.4% ABV.

Benrinnes was founded in 1826 by Peter MacKenzie at the foot of Ben Rinnes hill in Speyside, with the current site rebuilt after a flood destroyed the original in 1829. The Edward family sold the distillery to John Dewar in 1922, and it has remained in the Diageo group lineage since. Benrinnes is best known for the unusual partial triple distillation system it ran from 1974 to 2007 (replaced by a conventional double distillation regime in 2007) and for its worm tub condensers, which restrict copper contact and lock in the meaty, sulphury new make character that has made Benrinnes a stylistic neighbour of Mortlach, Dailuaine and Cragganmore.

Ex-Bourbon American white oak (Quercus alba) was charred for the original bourbon fill, breaking down lignin into vanillin and syringaldehyde and releasing whisky lactones from the wood. Against Benrinnes' meaty, sulphury new make, the refill bourbon cask lets the distillery character show clearly, with soft oak vanilla and coconut running alongside the savoury, beef-stock undertones the worm tubs produce.