BenRiach "Curiositas" peated malt, 10 Years Old

Tasted in Whisky Magazine Issue 46 by Martine Nouet and Dave Broom.

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Tasting Notes

Martine Nouet Nose Incredibly phenolic. Creosote. Meaty. Bacon, A slight butyric note in the back. Ash. Smoky when diluted. Palate Smooth and sweet then an explosion of pepper and ginger, fading on dry nuttiness. Finish Lingering. Liquoriced, with a dry woody bitterness. Comment A Speyside? The most Islayish of all the Speysides I have ever tasted. Interesting as a freak even if wood toughens the whole profile a little.

Dave Broom Nose Peat. Smoky and turfy moving into coal tar/bitumen with real baked fruit sweetness behind. Opens up into dried heather and turf. Palate Immense smoke, then sweet rich mouthfeel with nuttiness and a slight medicinal edge. Finish Cereal and smoke. Long. Bitumen. Embers. Comment A shock to find something this phenolic in this part of the world – but a great dram.