A beautiful box arrived a week or three ago. It was an invitation to join Rowan Gibb, the Super Premium Whisky Ambassador, to taste some Benriach whisky now available in SA. The tasting pack included the Benriach The Twelve Speyside single Malt Scotch whisky as well as the Benriach Smoky Twelve whisky.
The Benriach distillery has many links with South Africa. John Duff, the original owner, travelled through South Africa with his family during the 1800 and visited Johannesburg during the gold rush. He wanted to start a distillery here, but that did not work out as planned.
He went back to Scotland and, in 1898, built two distilleries next to each other in the Elgin region of Speyside. The other distillery was the Longmorn distillery. The Benriach distillery shut down during the Pattison crash, and only the malting floor remained active.
In 1965 the distillery was reopened by Glenlivet Distillers and, over the years, changed hands various times. In 2004 the Benriach distillery was bought by a consortium formed by two South Africans and Scottish whisky expert Billy Walker.
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The consortium expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of the Glendronach distillery in 2008 and the Glenglassaugh distillery in 2013. In 2016 the consortium sold all three of these distilleries to Brown-Forman.
Brown Forman appointed Dr Rachel Barry as the Master Distiller, and she has been refreshing the core range’s branding and structure. The look of the bottles and branding is reminiscent of the more classic branding from the early years.
Today let’s look at the Benriach The Twelve single malt whisky. In a week or two, I will also publish my tasting notes for the Benriach The Smoky Twelve whisky.
The Benriach The Twelve whisky was launched in 2020 as part of BenRiach’s new core range of single malts. It combines whisky matured in sherry casks, bourbon barrels and port casks for at least 12 years. Dr Barry then married the whisky from each cask together to create a sherry-rich single malt.
Benriach The Twelve Single Malt Whisky Review
REGION: Speyside
ABV: 46%
COLOUR: Golden bronze
NOSE: Rich and sweet with notes of red fruits, sherry and cherries. Something fresh in the background reminds me of fresh summer meadow flowers and green apples. There are hints of cocoa and honey in the background.
PALATE: Sweet with toffee apples, summer fruit salad and fresh cream, chocolate-coated cherries and pepper. Bits of wood and tropical fruit floating around. Warming chilli spiciness balances out the sweetness. Water softens the fruity notes and takes away a bit of the complexity.
FINISH: Long and lingering with fruity sweetness and soft pepper.
RATING: EXCELLENT
A rich sherry forward dram perfect for summer. Perfect as a pre-dinner sipping drink. The Benriach The Twelve is bold and memorable.
The Benriach The Twelve Scotch whisky is an excellent addition to any whisky drinker’s cupboard. The new branding is clean and classic and does credit to the spirit in the bottle.
It is available in South Africa and rentals for around R500. That is an excellent price for a 12 yo single malt from this innovative distillery.
Sample disclosure: I received this whisky from the Benriach team. The review and tasting notes are my own honest, fair and independent thoughts about the whisky.
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