Benrinnes 23-year-old (D.1997, B.2021) La Maison Du Whiskey 65th Anniversary / 52.8% / 0.7l

Benrinnes, a classic Speyside single malt, is (in our opinion) one of the most underrated whiskies.

The distillery is working at full capacity and distills around 3.5 million alcohol per year, but almost all of its production goes into blends from the Diageo portfolio, mainly J&B, Johnnie Walker and Crawford's. The only more widely available official edition was the 15-year-old in the Flora & Fauna series, of which there is no trace today. The Benrinnes 23-year-old presented here, distilled on 15 August 1997, was aged in a refill bourbon cask, then finished for one month in an Oloroso sherry cask. The whisky was bottled at cask strength (52.8% abv) by Hidden Spirits in 2021, and the recipient was the Parisian La Maison du Whisky, which celebrated its 65th anniversary this year.

Nose: rich and balanced, raisins, dried figs, yeast cake, honey, vanilla, pralines, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, notes of hay and oak.

Taste : complex, pineapples, nectarines, lime jam, coconut flakes, honeyed almonds, milk chocolate, black pepper, ginger and a touch of sage.

Finish : quite long, with notes of vanilla, toffee, pralines, pears, peaches, nuts and almonds, coffee and oak.