Benrinnes 16 Years Old 2008 Cask #310673 (The Caskhound)

Benrinnes 16 Years Old 2008 Cask #310673 (The Caskhound) is a 16 year old single cask Benrinnes from the Speyside distillery, drawn from a single ex-Madeira cask, distilled under the modern double distillation regime at Benrinnes. This release was bottled by The Caskhound, a German independent selecting single casks at natural strength. The release was distilled in 2008 and bottled in 2024, with a small outturn of 222 bottles, for the German market, at 52.8% 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.

The ex-Madeira cask previously held a Portuguese fortified wine subjected to deliberate oxidation and gentle heating (estufagem or canteiro), generating extreme concentrations of aldehydes, furans and Maillard compounds. The Benrinnes inherits burnt caramel, candied orange peel and a distinctive dried-fruit acidity over the meaty new make backbone.