hs305 scored this whisky 90 points 
[August, 2019] Maybe my taste buds are biased towards such profiles but I really liked all the recent Benrinnes bottlings of Cadenhead very much and there were quite a few - I scored them all between 88 and 90 points (except the youngest 14-years old that was rather weak at 80 points). So this new release is a must try, for sure...
...and you can flagellise me but this is another great Benrinnes, actually I like it most of them all. Besides the lush and delicious Benrinnes profile all offer this one owns the "extra kick": A chocolatey-coffee note that I admire and which can be hardly found as bold as in this dram. I think, this is a real bargain at around 70 Eurobucks and I stocked some bottles of this dangerously quaffable stuff...
...and you can flagellise me but this is another great Benrinnes, actually I like it most of them all. Besides the lush and delicious Benrinnes profile all offer this one owns the "extra kick": A chocolatey-coffee note that I admire and which can be hardly found as bold as in this dram. I think, this is a real bargain at around 70 Eurobucks and I stocked some bottles of this dangerously quaffable stuff...
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The colour is yellow gold and the nose offers the lush and rich Benrinnes profile of fruits (peaches, green apples), honeys, waxes, spices and summer floral impressions. After some breathing time earthy notes join in and the sweet aromas step back to leave the stage for more old Highland-stylish impressions of beeswax, minerals and chalk. Later an interesting note of unused bandages appears, but I do not find neither the "cherry cola" nor the "antiseptic cream" of the official tasting notes... I really adore such complex and interesting profiles but I can understand if modern whisky style lovers will find this not "impressive (spikey)" enough.
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Wow, what a nice surprise! This dram offers one of the flavours I like most - a chocolate-coffee note (cappuccino). Besides this there are much more flavours with overripe fruits (pears), delicious molten sugars, nuts (walnuts, almonds), herbal and spicy wooden notes. All nicely balanced and without any flaw - chewing this dram is mandatory becauses it releases its secrets slowly only. Like I stated before with other drams: This one is not suited for small sample tasting as it requires both significant time and spirit quantities to snatch all impressions from the glass. But it is worth the effort!
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The dram arrives warming and charming on the palate with a creamy coating mouthfeel and no distracting moments. The finish is long and adds more bitter herbs which are delicious in this context. It vanishes slowly in fading waves with the last ones being sweeter again, even the adorable coffee impression repeats itself towards the end. Water turns the nose (even) more old Highland-stylish with additional earthy, mineral and chalky notes and the taste gets smoother, releasing an impressive honey-toffee flavour that I like. But the great coffee note is gone, unfortunately - I like this dram best when neat, but the reduced version is quaffable too. A fine whisky to play a little with water.
