As the world continued to do battle with the Covid-19 pandemic, the whisky world seemed to respond with some excellent releases. The adversity and uncertainty acted as inspiration for some of the companies to bottle some of their best whiskies of recent times. It has been difficult to select just ten to be honest.
This whisky is a very special new limited edition from the innovative Speyside distillery of Benriach. The Benriach Malting Season is the first in over a century that uses barley malted exclusively at the distillery using the traditional floor maltings that were restored in 2012. This First Edition has seen the spirit produced from the floor malted barley then matured in ex-bourbon and virgin oak casks. There are 23 casks in total and they were married together by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach, to create the final product. This inaugural release used a variety of barley called concerto. Benriach is one of only two distilleries in Speyside to have an operational floor malting. Balvenie is the other.
This whisky is a limited edition single malt that celebrates the 50-year heritage of producing peated spirit at the innovative Speyside distillery of Benriach. The Benriach Smoke Season is a small batch release designed to showcase the spirit that uses malt peated using Highland peat, which has been distilled for a short period each year since the early 1970s and remains a rare practice for a Speyside distillery. It has been created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach, and features peated spirit matured in toasted virgin American oak casks and first-fill ex-bourbon barrels. It is said to be the most intensely peated Benriach ever released.
2020 was a year like no other in our lifetimes. The effects of Covid-19 have impacted all facets of daily life and beyond. It has had huge implications for the whisky industry around the world too. But after a short hiatus in March and April, companies began to carry on with adapted plans and release new bottlings. Launch events, tastings and even whisky shows turned to the online format and have now become commonplace.
This whisky forms part of the newly revamped core range of single malts from the Speyside distillery of Benriach, which is designed to showcase Benriach's eclectic range of casks from around the world (these come from 20 different origins) and the three different spirit styles that are produced there - classic Speyside, peated Speyside (produced for only 5-6 weeks each year) and triple distilled (produced for just 1-2 weeks each year). The range has been entirely created by Dr. Rachel Barrie, the Master Blender for Benriach. The Twenty One combines both classic and peated malts together and features four cask types - ex-bourbon, ex-red wine, ex-sherry and virgin oak.
