It's Not All Doom And Gloom... Benriach 1995

What can I say, it's all going to the dogs with general strikes, double dip recessions and public sector cuts deeper than the Pacific Trench that have taken a machete to the arm of Christmas spirit. For the time of year that is supposed to be all good cheer it is looking glummer than a clown at a funeral. The Office of Budget Responsibility is not at all enthused about George Osborne's autumn budget and the OECD is prophecising another recession, which (and forgive the complexity of the following statement) we could do without. I am now convinced its only a matter of time before we hear that Rudolph's got collick, Santa's been assassinated and Christmas Trees contain asbestos.

My response is that we all need to buck up and smile. Aside from drowning our sorrows in a sea of austerity we should recklessly indulge in all things glutinous and excessive. Buy our way out of a recession with mince pies, pointless gadgets and turkeys that go beyond huge and are simply grotesque. Then we should all waste what little savings we have left on lavish holidays abroad. Here ends my magnanimous solution to the global economic crisis.

To get you in the mood for hideously expensive holidays in the tropics I have provided tasting notes for a tropical whisky to get you in the spirit. The whisky in question is the 1995 single cask Benriach aged in PX casks for 16 years, great stuff. See you on the otherside of the downturn!

Benriach 1995
58.3% - 16 Years Old - Cask 7164 - Bottle 670/695
Nose: Banana initially with orange juice from concentrate. Next tropical melon and pineapple fruits arrive with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.
Palate: Fizzy cola sweets and teaspoons of cinnamon.
Finish: Lots of malt and spice, long and minty culminating with botanically brewed cola.
Overall: A fantastic unpeated Benriach. Such a variety of flavours packed in, excellently long finish, a refreshing change to Christmas cake PX cask flavours. Well worth a try!

An Exception To The Rule... BenRiach Arumaticus Fumosus

The world is full of exceptions to rules. The English language is positively riddled with them, "'I' before 'E' except after 'C'" being a flawed classic. Laws, especially when applied to those who make them, are diseased with exceptions and I am sure any game ever invented has a few thrown in for good measure (except perhaps connect four). Although exceptions make the world a more interesting and intriguing place they are also a major annoyance. For example: explaining a relatively simple concept to someone and, just when you think they've finally understood it, having to say "however there is an exception...". The whisky world is rife with exceptions. Quite often through my work I have to teach people the ins and outs of whisky. To keep it simple I work around the whisky regions of Scotland but of course every region has its exceptions. Islay has Bunnahabhain, the Islands have Arran, and Speyside has BenRiach. I usually skip over exceptions to keep things simple however it also means I forget about them. So recently I thought I'd pay more attention to these anomalies. The distillery I chose to explore was BenRiach, the peated Speyside. It was a distillery that I was dubious of, partly because I hadn't heard much about it but also because I had my doubts that Speyside could match the peaty passion of Islay - having previously tried the Benromach Peat Smoke I should have known better...

BenRiach Arumaticus Fumosus
46% - 12 Year Old - Dark Rum Finish
Nose: This whisky is meaty; smoke infusing itself in a hog roast lathered with sweet barbecue sauce.
Palate: Reminds me of punch, a rum kick from the cask finish with barley sweet flavours and some peat to boot.
Finish: Heathery and floral at first but then spicy and smoky with coffee following.
Overall: Arumaticus Fumosus is apparently Latin for 'smoky rum', for all that rum that was drunk in Roman times. That aside, I was impressed with this dram. It had layers of flavour that complimented its peating. BenRiach do a lot of different finishes so I couldn't say if this was comparatively under par or high quality, but it has intrigued me to find out. It is an exception to the rule I can live with, and I am curious to try more!