Benrinnes 11 Years Old 2011 Cask #308329 (Finn Thomson)

Benrinnes 11 Years Old 2011 Cask #308329 (Finn Thomson) is an 11 year old single cask Benrinnes from the Speyside distillery, drawn from a single ex-American Oak cask with an ex-Pedro Ximenez finish, distilled under the modern double distillation regime at Benrinnes. This release was bottled by Finn Thomson, an independent whisky merchant selecting single casks at natural strength without colouring or chill-filtration. The release was distilled in 2011 and bottled in 2023, with a small outturn of 281 bottles, for the European market, at 51.2% 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. The distillery's distinctive partial triple distillation system ran from 1974 to 2007, when Diageo reconfigured the stillhouse to a conventional double distillation regime with two wash stills feeding four spirit stills. Vapours are condensed through worm tubs kept at very cold temperatures, restricting copper contact and locking in the meaty, sulphury new make character that has made Benrinnes a stylistic neighbour of Mortlach, Dailuaine and Cragganmore. Diageo replaced the worm tub copper coils in 2023, with the distillery returning to a stated 3.5 million litre annual capacity.

American oak (Quercus alba) is high in whisky lactones (cis- and trans-beta-methyl-gamma-octalactone) and breaks down under charring to release vanillin and syringaldehyde from the lignin. The cask contributes coconut, vanilla and honeyed sweetness against the savoury Benrinnes new make. Typical tasting notes include chocolate, sherried, fragant, fresh fruit, oily and cooked fruit.