Description
Benriach The Smoky Twelve 700ml is a 12 year old peated single malt from the Benriach distillery in the north of Speyside, Scotland. It brings together peated and unpeated spirit matured in three cask types, bourbon barrels, sherry casks and Marsala wine casks, and is bottled at 46% ABV.
Buy Benriach The Smoky Twelve Online in NZ
Benriach was founded in 1898 by John Duff, a whisky entrepreneur who built the distillery on a small hill, or ‘ben’, at the site of the old Riach farm near Elgin. Financial trouble saw it sold to the Longmorn Distilleries Company, which closed it around the turn of the twentieth century. Distilling restarted in 1965 under The Glenlivet Distillers, and the distillery has been part of Brown-Forman since 2016.
Speyside is mostly known for unpeated whisky, but in the early 1970s Benriach went back to an older, 19th century style and began distilling some spirit from malted barley smoked with Highland peat. Today it makes unpeated and peated spirit, including some triple-distilled peated whisky. It is also one of the few Scottish distilleries with working floor maltings, restarted in 2012 after closing in 1996. Master Blender Dr Rachel Barrie, appointed in 2017, now shapes the core range.
The Smoky Twelve shows what happens when that Speyside fruit meets peat smoke and rich wine casks. The smoke is noticeable but balanced, so the orange, chocolate and spice still come through.
Pour it neat in a tulip glass, then try a few drops of water to open up the fruit and vanilla. It also works in a smoky Old Fashioned or a Penicillin-style cocktail, and pairs well with dark chocolate, smoked meats or a sharp aged cheddar.
- Peated Speyside single malt from Benriach, Scotland
- Bourbon, sherry and Marsala wine casks
- Aged 12 years, bottled at 46% ABV
Expect smoked vanilla, charred orange peel and toasted oak on the nose. The palate brings dark chocolate, fruit peel and brown sugar with woody smoke and a little clove, finishing long with cocoa, smoked orange and a light peppery edge.
A smart pick for Speyside fans who want to try peat, and for smoky whisky drinkers after something sweeter and fruitier than Islay.
