BenRiach 10-Year Curiositas
46% ABV - Speyside, Scotland
Nose: Strong, earthy peat with a sweet backbone and slightly medicinal quality, accompanied by fruits and florals.
Taste: The smoke and spices lead into smokehouse, smoked meat flavours and roasted nuts. Clove, ginger, and peat smoke lead into the finish.
Finish: It is more fruits and smoke on the finish, with vanilla, tropical fruits, and wood spices in the background.
BenRiach is currently listed in my ‘Top 5 Favourite Producers or Bottlers’ – ranked by average tasted rating, given that I’ve had five or more expressions. My first bottle, the Cask Strength Batch 1, is nearly finished and it has done a great job of letting me get to know the "house character" from – what I think to be – majority ex-Bourbon aging. That character – the fruits, vanilla, and spices – shows up here in the BenRiach Curiositas. The nose and finish are the best parts to tease out the more fruity and floral qualities. The palate has an abundance of peat and smoky notes that otherwise dominate the flavour wheel.
I am not sure what bottle of BenRiach will be next; I’d love to pick up the Cask Strength Batch 2, but the price increased and I haven’t had the opportunity to try it yet..! It’s at that price level where I have to spend wisely, and not too often. I was able to try the Peated Cask Strength Batch 1, and, while it was really good and I’d recommend it, the taste:value ratio wasn’t high enough for me. This BenRiach Curiositas though? Great value, and highly recommended.
Tasting Notes (Official): Nose: An explosion of aromatic peat reek, with fragrant hints of honey, fruit and mellow oak. Colour: Rich amber. Taste: An avalanche of peat, followed by an extravagant and complex mix of fruit, heather, nuts, oak wood and spices.
Tasted 21, 25 November 2019. (Posted 3 December 2019.)
