Benrinnes 15-year-old

What an exceptional Benrinnes this is! It has has unique dark meat broth-like dark character, and punches above it weight considering its age and strength. The dram got better and better during the two years it took me to empty the bottle. Makes me curious if other batches of the Benrinnes 15 in the flora & fauna range have the same qualities.

Aroma-Moderate；Palate-84/100; Aftertaste-Medium ；

But that is quite delicious. And you get some of the distillery with you. Especially by the orange and the forest honey, even if the sulfur, which Benrinnes so said, occurs only conditionally.

Dark amber color. The whisky is definitely oily.

https://whiskylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2023/07/24/limousin-settling-in/ I’ve tried this only once and that was way back in 2016 [83]. Let’s see how things stand in my mind seven years on. N: Plenty of age showing on stewed fruits, fruit tea, sawdust, [Neapolitan] ice cream, and integrated sweet-to-dry sherries from a previous regime. Later – if you’ve ever used vegetal tannin cleaning products – a greasy vegetal textural quality into sherries, carrot cake, dates,… Christmas vibes/vintage style. T: Soft as if flat at first becoming more fatty and peppery as it goes on. Plenty of integrated papery-rubbery sherry into,… F: ,.. dry sherry, more tea, greasy maltiness,… some saltiness, mild woody bitterness, dry-to-Palo Cortado sherries, Bouillon,… A premature blend-like finish. C: In 2016, I wrote ‘,… a bit ungainly and equally endearing’. In 2023, an idiosyncratic – or ‘odd’, as Serge called it [WF85] – malt from an earlier whisky-making time. A point higher today mostly because of the nose.

This is something different this time. Whisky that (in my mind) supposed to be full bodied, medium heavy, sherry-bomb actually is light and refreshing with just a reminiscent of "the dark side". Nevertheless, given it time in the glass, it slowly develops the true character. Nose: Light and delicately sweet. Shy at first, but then many flavours appear: raisins, dark chocolate, brown sugar, sweet oranges, cherries in liquor, old books covered in leather and dust... Strong English Breakfast tea with a pinch of Lapsang perhaps... or it is just a glimpse of a peat? Taste: First sip is surprisingly light, delicately sweet but then whisky starts to develop and change to more "dark side" - it becomes more spicy and dry. Dark chocolate with cardamon, tobacco, leather, dark cherries in liquor, espresso, burnt sugar.. Finish: medium-to-long, dry and spicy, warming. Cocoa, nutmeg, cloves oak and tobacco. All in all it is different, and not an easy-daily-dram for sure. I wish it could deliver more regarding it's age. More anything, but pick only one: more peat, more fruits or more "dark side". Without it seems "not enough".

Interesting whisky that is not easy to read. The aromas are very interwoven and the bitter aromas dominate the happenings. The nose is something on the track - 19.12.2017

Had this one blind. Guessed Speyside / Glenfarclas. 46% and 15 yo. Not a total miss at least.

Thisone needs time to open up mine whas bytter afther one month oksidising in the bottle

Tasted in 2022

The nose is rather closed, with subtle oak spice, light sherry notes, and dark caramel. On the palate, however, it's all the more intense with its caramel sweetness. Dark notes of brown sugar, toasted oak, and baking spices like cloves and cinnamon emerge. Along with these come baked bread, marzipan, and walnuts. Subtle fruity hints of cherry jam and raspberry follow. A touch of beetroot and notes of milk chocolate and malt candies complete the picture. The finish is dominated by dried herbs. A very good and complex whisky with plenty to discover. The 43% ABV suits it perfectly, and I particularly enjoy the intense caramel sweetness. Anyone who likes sweet, dark, and spicy whiskies will find something to their liking here. If you prefer dark whiskies with a fruity note, take a look at the Blair Athol 12yo (WB 274) from the Flora & Fauna series. I thoroughly enjoyed both.

Score is for a bottle from around 1994

'Captain Kirk, we're rolling' N: Yeah, that's more like it [following on from,... a menagerie of malty mediocrity]. Not a dirty malt exactly, more an all sorts, bric-a-brac malt with a varied flavour spectrum. Stewed fruits, plastic bags and curried [turmeric & garam masala] coffee - yep, curried coffee, pub style curry. Don't get me wrong though, this isn't an oddball, it also carries a varied array of the usual suspect nosing descriptors you'd expect with a bottling such as this! I'm just picking the oddities out. Shows plenty of [creamy] age. T: Peppery, citrus and sherried notes arrive first moving to a sweeter-savoury bourbon style. The wood shows clearly before falling into the finish. With water, everything tightens up, belts pulled in a notch. It's then more ship-shape but more keen to finish. That's not the whole story however! F: Neat, the finish is wood dry and disappearing rapidly. What little remains though, does linger. The sherry influence holds on the longest with 'wash' notes at the death. With water however, however! - fresher notes linger in tandem with the oaked>malt for a longer finish. C: Its a bit ungainly and equally endearing. I rather prefer some imperfections, especially in the shadow of modern, clean, young pretenders. Plenty to enjoy and explore although annoyingly it never quite sings. So, it's whisky with a voice not for melodies but for spoken word perhaps? - but then I rather like the 'Shatner style' Scores a C[+]

a hint of nuts, some dark fruits, plums maybe. spicy, oak influence is good. very drinkable fine dram, finish is all right. tasted it together with the 21yo Benrinnes.

Cream dessert seasoned with a little chili, which at the end transforms into latte macchiatto. Good, but a little out of the box.

Good sherry whisky, which could be a bit more intense. Color: Burnished

Knowing that Benrinnes tries to produce a sulphury spirit and being quite sensitive to sulhphury whsky I approached this with trepidation - without reason it turns out. I would not call this sulphured at all, as the casks it was matured in are very clean sherry casks. The spirit is very rough and puts up a fight but the result is a very distinctive sherry matured whisky that may not appeal to all. If you are looking for a good solid sherry casked whisky in 2021, try this. It is not cheap, but easily beats the likes of the Glenfarclas 15, for example.

A very nice bottling of the Flora & Fauna series. I find the drinking strength of 43% sufficient, fun and sufficiently complex. Nice thing.

nose dried plums Spicy red apple The stickiness characteristic of Sherry Oily cigarette Pallet Ripened berries The roughness of wood sweetness dark chocolate Mildly spicy Lemon-like citrus Finish Sweet berry scent Long-lasting spiciness The astringency of tannins Short finish The more you aerate, the more diverse the scent becomes, but it goes to very extremes. At first, it shows the characteristics of a sherry bomb, then at some point the tobacco scent becomes strong, and then a sweet scent bursts out again. In terms of taste, it has a typical sherry flavor and doesn't seem to change drastically, but I wonder what it will be like as I finish the bottle.... The finish is generally short and not very distinctive.

n:  rich nose with a decent sherry influence. malt candies, cereals, vanilla, custard, orange peels. the oak is rather loud and as for spices I am getting subtle cinnamon and maybe a little ginger. t:  very much the nose but fresher because the oak is not so loud on the palate. f:  medium comments: good everyday dram

Nice beginner in the evening. More but not. Bit thin the whole thing.

Going by the average score of this whisky here, there seems to be variation from batch to batch. And I'm sure I had a pretty good one with this 2007 bottling! Great character for what it's worth with being chill-filtered and coloured. It's proof you should never fully exclude these kind of whiskies. It has this warm vibe that's not alcohol-related, and that's all thanks to the casks which left a superb mark on this malt. Vastly different to contemporary sherried whisky as it's nowhere as drying or bitter. Even if it was only sherry-finished, there's some deep notes to discover. It's a well constructed malt with powerful flavours, but with a certain finesse. Kind of like James Bond. The finish is a highlight too, if not the best part of this dram. There's a chance some paxarette may have been involved here.. To clarify: it indeed has some sulfur-like notes but it's in the background. It's not distractive for me, but could be for others. Avoid sherried Benrinnes if you can't stand it at all, ex-bourbon matured Benrinnes is a very good fruity alternative. Final thought, this could have been legendary at cask strength.. Drool.

Sulfur, grain, old board, banana, candy, apple, bun, wax, pine needles, dry herbs, bread, almonds, old green tea, orange, milk chocolate, walnut, toffee, grapefruit, ginger, dung. Bitter, vegetable, oily, mineral.

Considerable bloom in an old fashioned. Sl leathery sense, not enough to be offensive, but not balanced by any other immediately apparent soft flavors. A bit of a harder edge. Leathery is not quite the right word——-perhaps this is more accurately a very slight smokiness!!!—-yes, this has a slight smokiness. Not offensive, just different from most of the Speyside whisky I have had. This smokiness is actually delicate enough to be attractive itself. Not at all the heavy peaty flavor. The label suggests that there may be an element of peat, but the flavor is more suggestive of a smokiness from one of the barrels used for aging.———ok, there is actually a very subtle peated aspect. So this has a slight Smokey and peated flavor aspect, but it is mild enough that is does not put me off, in an Old Fashioned. This bottle clearly has a different flavor sense than the 13yr old or the Signatory.

A very pleasant sherry molt with a slope in raisin-tropical motifs elegantly underlined with prickly and caustic sulfur-mineral tones, the aroma sags a little, the flavor / finish in development is enriched with coffee and chocolate undertones with a light tobacco blend.

Tested version of 2019

Blind work heavy

The Grand Tétras of the Flora & Fauna serie, certainly a Sherry bomb, but not too much explosive.

Stark näsa. Lite sherry och trä i lukt. Fortsatt sherry, lätt rök men len. Stark eftersmak av sprit.

Blindtasting an interesting spicy delicious Dram from the Sherr barrel, which wins for me very much by a few drops of water. Reminds me of the style better Glenfarclas, Aberlour 18, Cardhu 18, (Garioch Single Casks) - but has more alcohol, - the dilution was necessary because of the intense flavors, not because of the alcohol. My tip: Speysider with 15-18 years First Fill Sherry or older with a refill keg, undiluted, otherwise a master blender would have already opened it up with water, exciting especially the nose dry sparkle than the palate

Ordinary malt. It is not only characterized by the fruits of the sherry, but also has some herbier and spicy notes.

Both bourbon and sherry barrels (were there among other things PX barrels in there? Unfortunately, I don't know of the batch) participate, although the bourbon component is a bit too intense for my personal taste. It can shine on the nose: very round, soft and full. But then it falls off.

Rather basic in taste and smell without any particular touches / elements.

Very nice, pleasant versatile nose, and smooth and creamy character. Fruits, some sweet- and spiciness.

Sherry, buttery

Tasted as a part of The Whisky Shop Advent Calendar 2024. --- What a lovely malt, feels like a hidden gem within the Flora & Fauna lineup. Will certainly be purchasing a full bottle of this.

Teveel anijs voor mij maar wel een whisky met veel kruiden en diepgang

Red meat toast for vegetarians. Would love to try a cask strength version. Probably matured mostly in refill ex-sherry casks. Chill-filtered. Coloured. Thick slow primary legs. Mid-size slowly forming secondary legs. Trails.

Not bad indeed, but it could possibly be better with a higher ABV and non-filtration. Nice price, but here in China, we have better 15 YOs (Glenallachie, just to name one) with higher cost-performance ratio

For the age and price this is somewhat disappointing. The nose is extremely shy, body is light, which belies the meaty flavour. Sherry balances this out. Notes of carbonated dry stout, cream. But all feels a bit lacking in intensity

I wanted to test one of the Flora & Fauna series. That's where the Benrinnes stung my eye. I have not looked back.

Classical sherried dram at 43%.

Green apples that are felt explicitly incense, distillery's unique character, the proper sour taste coming up from behind, and high drinking

Don't know what to think of this whisky, it definitely has its place, but for the price there are better alternatives, extra point for its specialness. The smoke content is close to zero, but is still noticeable, tending between non-existent and Oban, well chosen. Edit: After the second tasting everything is the same as the initial tasting: A Scotch that is refreshingly different. Edit: Even after the third tasting, I can't say much other than: "A special malt that you don't get in your glass every day."

Bottled in October 2022 (L2298DQ004). A real sherry board - not the sweet kind, more a bit bitter. Not really my thing, but it's worth trying... I will try another batch in the future.

len och lätt , inte rökig. bra allround whisky

The Benrinnes 15, along with the Blair Athol 12 and the Dailuaine 16, is certainly the flagship and one of the best bottlings in the Flora & Fauna series. Which of the three is the best is a matter of personal taste. I find all three to be exceptionally good single malts. The Benrinnes 15 is a sherry bomb, without actually being one. That is to say, the sherry notes are very dominant, but they don't overpower the other aromas. It's very balanced and harmonious. A great whisky to savor. Round, full of character, and complex.

The nose is very sherried, but on the taste oak and spices come nicely.

Can't complain, fun dram, good cask selection, decent complexity. 43% abv. don't hurt this one. Recommended.

Benrinnes 15yo Flora and Fauna 43%. 25ml at home, Sep 2021. Very dark amber, suggesting either first fill casks or e150a. The aroma makes it clear that it's the latter. Plus, Diageo made it, so… Aroma is pretty tired oak, the damp wood notes of a refill cask, more than a hint of ‘struck match’ sulphur to be frank, red apple, apple pie with too much filling and not enough crust. Becoming more figgy as the sulphur dies down over time. Settles on figs and violets, some burnt paper. If aromas could have colours, this would be purple. I completely appreciate that this observation makes me sound unhinged. The taste up front is musty, flat and tired, papery oak, underpowered gloopy and flat, slightly burnt notes, burnt yellow bell peppers. Watery and minerally with such a reluctant finish. Low impact across the palate and just totally without oompf. The flavour almost only starts about 5 seconds after you swallow. The initial impressions are unimpressive to say the least, although the late aftertaste seems to pull it back a touch, giving a hint of hope. The salt and pepper, the slight char and the faint fruitiness that come out, eventually, on the linger are totally necessary to carry you into the next sip, persuading you that the initial impression isn't so bad and that you should drink some more. This is very much a building dram - one which you have to keep the momentum up with. Once you've had a few sips you can sort of get on board with it a bit despite some very dodgy first impressions. If you stop drinking it and come back to it after a few minutes you go back to not really liking it that much. My first impression score would be significantly lower than my final score, but I'll be generous and give it my highest score. I ended up drinking all of my sample, but much more quickly than I would usually wish to. Needless to say you'll not catch me buying a bottle though! 3.25/78

lite spritig, men god kärig doft och relativt bra smak. kan tänkas köpa

a very approachable sherry bomb with notes of red wine, ginger, salt and coffee tang, well balanced and not overwhelming

I came to this distillery bottling after trying a younger independent bottling from the Douglas Laing Provenance range. This is spoiled by the fact that it is chill filtered, coloured and only bottled at 43% which is reflected in my poor score. Personally I'd stay with the independent bottlings.

Leather, oak, raisins, chocolate. Quite delicate, but meaty. Deep and complex. Don't believe for a second that this is a sherry monster; it's no such ting, it's a quiet, relaxing whisky.

Tasted on 05-06-2019 at "Spirit of Speyside Festival" in Dufftown.

Tasted blind.

No idea how they've done it, but some how they used the unrealised potential of this 15 year old Benrinnes, to make it moreish. Very clever. There's something about a tasty, but short tail that keeps me coming back. I think it makes me want to try and prolong the brief experience by drinking more. Still, I reckon in this case, that's cheating. Or maybe, I'm just missing something. Either way, I'm torn. I did enjoy drinking this . The nose has personality ranging from the expected to the intriguing, the mouthfeel and palate are very pleasing, expanding on the nose a bit more, but I really had to build up a critical mass of liquid, to be able to get into it in any meaningfull way. This is another whisky that makes me feel nit-picky.