Benromach 10-year-old

My first bottle ever. In "when in Scotland, do as the locals do", I purchased this in a shop in Spean Bridge back in the summer of 2012. Why this Benromach? Because this was the cheapest bottle I could find. Little did I know. Last night I tasted it again in a line up of (semi) peated whiskies. It did not disappoint me.

One of my favorite affordable whisky's at the moment. It is interesting, quite complex and so drinkable! Earthy sherry. Red apples, peaches and oranges. Dry wood. A hint of soft smoke, like a fire from a distance with some leaves and pinecones in it. A slice of cured meat. Burnt honey. Sweet spicies and golden syrup. Must have!

Excellent standard expression, insanely good value for money. Serve it blind to even seasoned whisky geeks and they will be impressed and never guess it to be a mere 10yo whisky for 3x €

Excellent basic whisky, bar version from the category "For every day". I don't know for sure what "old school whisky" is, but I'm convinced that in this case it is.

Overall, a well-balanced malt with a pleasant smoke. In the mouth it is quite light / soft, but interesting. A little more alcohol could possibly do him good. Very good uncomplicated standard with great PLV.

N: smoke, green apple, citrus, vanilla, honey, salty, sea, nut (?), Sulfur, rather dry, all very pleasant and smooth S: smoke, dark chocolate, honey, salt, more salt F: sherry, dried fruit, smoke, dark chocolate, talisker A nice balance of sweetness, smoke and freshness. guitar

Verry nice sort of classic profile whisky, ( comes to mind) good balance a little smokey, almost complex (in a balanced way , good whisky for a good price.

Nose: The Benromach is a briney smoky speyside - like Balvenie seasoned with Caol Ila. Palate: The soft smoke and brine follow through from the nose as well as a little honey and mint. softer peat, softer brine, and light tropical fruits

Benromach has the potential to become the Springbank of Speyside, but regrettably some minor flaws remain. Complex and balanced, the nose interweaves delicate bonfire smoke, orange peel and green apples with polished wood, leather and gentle spices. The peppery arrival is dominated by tangerines, eucalyptus and a blanket of leafy peatiness before it turns mineral, briny and slightly dry mid-palate. Savory, citric and mildly bitter notes drift into the long finish. Gordon & MacPhail needs to tackle the low bottling strength, and let this whisky shine! RATING: 3.9/5.0 stars ≙ 86 pts → FIRST-CLASS [-]

After the previous 10 year old from Benromach the question was whether the packaging was just marketing or was there a different whisky? The version from 2009 was absolutely great for a OB and at a volume of just 43% a big one as well. There's just to much time between the last 2009 and the first 2014, so I won't compare them. I think it's about the same perhaps a bit more sherry. Really recommended for those who like an old style with a complex profile. Smoke, herbs, sweetness from sherry, nuts etc.

Colour: Amber Gold Nose: Fresh, definitely a nice hint of smoke herbs and wood. Mouth: Wood, herbs, and some mintlike freshness. Light hint of smoke, less then in the nose. Citrus fruit and a very light pepper hint. It has a little dry feeling neat. Little drop of water makes it alot less dry and opens it up nicely (less then 1 teaspoon!) Finish: It has a subtle smooth finish with still a nice complex wood taste but now the sweeter caramel and chocolate comes through. Conclusion: A very good dram of whisky, certainly at it's age. Fairy complex fresh taste and a smooth medium lasting finish. Definitely worth the price.

One of the best vfm whisky!!

Am surprised by this young whisky showing a decent degree of complexity. This is a very respectable 10yo.

Is it me or is the Benromach 10 getting tastier with every batch? Incredibly impressive and proof that affordable whisky can still equal really, really good whisky.

A quality entry level single malt to rival Glenmorangie 10.

Nose: Sweet raisins, pineapple sap, malt, licorice, sour green apple, coffee, honey and a little bit of Orange peel. Taste: Nutty, hot pepper, caramel sweet, more apple but now more like sweet red apple, washing powder. In the development finally a little bit of peat smoke and the taste I have after brushing my teeth (methol ?) Finish: Quite long, peat smoke, hot pepper and again a little weird with the washing powder. I would buy another bottle, so much more to explore.

A really good honest 10 year old whisky! The raw distillate is of very high quality and the barrels give off many aromas that are carried by light smoke. Super price performance for me.

One of the best Bang for your Buck whisky's I've had. It's around €40. Very complex for it's age.

This is absolutely my new favorite whisky! It's balanced, tasty and distinguised. Great value for money!

simple and honest

Yum! Huge fan of this release and it seems to have improved a few points with some oxidation! ⁣ ⁣ I do find myself craving this style of whisky and when factoring in the price this is such a great bang for the buck OB. I'll have to seek out an Imperial Proof or a new cask strength batch release as I feel that maybe the mouthfeel is a tad bit watery for those cask strength lovers (me included). All in all, this is a really solid pour. ⁣ ⁣ 86/100

Actually classic Speysider, with lots of vanilla and red fruits taste, but also a pronounced "wild" character that makes it enjoyable as well as bold. Rounded on the palate, but with some edges on the nose, it's a fully rewarding dram, not as easy as it could seem. Thumbs up, especially from a quality/price point of view.

Without water in the nose quite flat, it opens clearly with addition.

[September, 2015]  I had this dram during a FoSM club tasting. In my old rating system (ten scales that translate into WB points: 50 - 66 - 75 - 80 - 82,5 - 85 - 87,5 - 90 - 92,5 - 95) I scored it 85. I took no detailed notes as the whisky did not interest me.

This is the bottle I would grab for an occasional all-around dram. There are days I don't enjoy it that much and I think it has to do with the fact it reminds me of a blended whisky. A good blend actually, but still.. Just not interesting enough.

Very nice old-fashioned aroma with soft peat, polished wooden parquet, some rubber, pronounced honey and of course malt. The taste is slightly peaty, slightly woody, malty with a slight bitterness and some iron aftertaste at the end. It is a bit watery.

*** ????: gold ????: pleasant, bourbon, quite intensely bourbon, although you can still feel the freshness of the distillate, sweet, quite, not quite ????: sweet, very sweet, very chewy but pleasant, slightly biting, typical ff bourbon, unfortunately light alcohol can be felt although it is not irritating ????: slightly tart, slightly warming, not even that short *** Such OK dram, he misses a lot but nothing at all disturbs, cool party dram ????: 4/10 ????: 86/100

To me this is one of the best recent standard bottlings. To some extend comparable to Springbank 10. Absolutely high quality and perfectly balanced complexity. You can immerse in this for hours or just lay back and enjoy! Setting standards.

Excellent and complex whisky. Definitely good value for money. Smoke, peat, sherry, herbs, sweetness........the smoke is present in the nose, but rather subtle and balanced. Finish is good, medium.

Tasty, rich and well-rounded, but also, to my taste, way too soft and smooth. The mellow smoke and leathery sherry notes remind me of many a current Bowmore. I know, it's a boring refrain, but this *really* could've used at least 46%. I say, give this a try but then go for the 100 Proof or the Peat Smoke Sherry Cask editions if you'd like to see Benromach at its best.

Great price / performance ratio. Colleague below has described everything very well.

Notes based on a blind sample. It's a weird dram. Nothing about the smell prepared me for the smoke that kept growing and growing. The smoke keeps the perfumy side nicely in check. I liked it. Weird but nice.

A profile of daily dram friendly but less successful than the old OB of 10 years of age ... This new version is sweeter, less dry and less rustic than the previous one. From "old school" in chromo version, in short.

A very complex and pleasant standard. A very good malt.

LMDW TASTING NOTE Gold color. Nose: precise and uncompromising, marked by notes of cedar and smoke. A lemony note emerges from the glass quickly followed by bacon and spicy notes. Almond milk. Palate: just as assertive as the nose. Generous on the flavors of peat which declines around the aromas of burnt wood, ashes and chimney fire. Smoked fish, hint of liquorice. Finish: persistent on peat, but in a much more medicinal register, cardamom, eucalyptus. Back to tar, macadam and dried fish.

I cannot think of a more complex and satisfying core range 10-year-old. An essential bottle.

Blind sample from the BTC 2014. I was in doubt between a Benromach and a Bruichladdich so I put a dram of Bruichladdich 2007 Islay Barley and a Benromach 2005 Origins next to the sample. The Laddie showed more similarity to the sample than the Benromach.

Nice honest whisky. Just enough apples and vanilla, not to much with which I quite appreciate. Barely notice the smoke. Nice sherry notes, but not at all big. A bit 'drop' which I like very much. Easy, oily mouthfeel. A bit more smoke. Delicate spicyness. The smoke is most noticeable in the finish. With is nice, fairly long and a bit drying from the oak. Somehow feels like a blend of Glenlivet 12, Clynelish 14 and Talisker 10. And also reminds me of Laddie 10. Excellent, clean and complete whisky at a nice price. Edit: up a point after 2 months open. Less apple, more creamy Malt.

Nice whisky, has a bit of everything and therefore a real all rounder. This also has a downside, because it lacks its own character.

An entry level more than decent, he is happy to drink. The only downside in my case is the bitterness in the mouth a bit too present for my taste. A good price-performance ratio.

As with the older version, it's an interesting whisky, very good whisky. It came even better than the older version. I had a sample imported from the Whisky Festival 2016.

Sweet. Slightly smoky but not peat or medicinal. Pretty spicy for 43%

The de-construction [and re-construction], of the standard 10yo 43%The standard 10yo is made up of a large percentage of 9yo sherry matured whisky and a smaller percentage of 9yo bourbon matured whisky before being finished for 18 months in oloroso casks - all first-fill. It's then watered down using de-ionised water, re-married, left to rest and then finally bottled. We got to try the constituent parts that went in to making the 10yo before trying the finished article and its older brother. The only substantial missing link in this enlightening tasting was the absence of the new-make spirit which i always find illuminating to understanding.Benromach 9yo First-fill bourbon CS 58.9% As Benromach only use first fill casks, this relatively young juice at cask strength is likely to be punchy. N: You can literally smell the cask and those modern efficiency-prepared oak staves. Not sure there's much of the spirit's character to be gleaned here, just a passing whiff of apple pips. With water and time, clearer fruit notes appear - namely  apples & pears, soft pears. T: This is brash stuff, fruity & grassy before evidence of that 10-12 ppm peated barley finally emerges. F: Now there's an oily/tar quality [from the peat, char?], before the appearance of smoke only. There are greener notes with water. Concludes with a smokey barley finish. C: Quite harsh and raw at times, mainly speaking of that fresh, new 'tech' oak. Let's move on to the sherry casks.Benromach 9yo First-fill sherry cask CS 59% N: This is a savoury, meaty-Bovril sherry nose. T: Coal tar, charcoal, BBQ bacon,..... dry overall. F: Grassy, raw and unripe actually with green fruits - apples to greengages. C: Like the bourbon 9yo, it's the young wood that speaks loudly. The resulting sherry cask influence is rather varied from nose to palate to finish, which is no bad thing. Let’s try the two combined finished in oloroso casks.. Benromach 10yo CS 57.6% So, this is a malt blend of the 9yo bourbon & 9yo sherry casks [all first-fill], finished for 18 months in oloroso and presented at cask strength. N: It’s still very raw and pokey but that oloroso finish as rounded off the edges somewhat. Adding water bring out the rubbery [erasers] raisins. There’s a little smoke. T: A little more rubbery>erasers. F: The actual oloroso comes out clearly now as does the light barley smoke with a lasting vegetal sour-cream note. C: Take away the oloroso roundness factor and you still have a raw and boisterous whisky. The high abv isn't helping the cause, but let's remember this is still not the finished article 10yo - reduced to 43%, married, rested and then bottled.Benromach 10yo [2016] Ob. [bar: S020613023680] 43% Score: B[-] N: It’s the sum of its parts but the abv reduction has tempered much of the rawness by rounding off those rough oak edges whilst softening the impact of the oloroso directly. It's even possible to detect the bourbon notes from the sherried ones, having done the de-construction. T: Soft rubbery, bouncy chew. The rawness has been ‘sherry-disguised’. The peat level is just enough, and most desirable. F: Familiar cask-sour notes. C: This certainly is the finished article. There's still a rawness but a rounded rawness, and it doesn't just taste like sherry - hence a good mix. It’s a very well constructed malt and all the better for those phenols - I’m happy for more. Blog Benromach 'reconstruction' C: This wasn’t part of the program but my ‘master blender’ gene took over. I proceeded to mix my samples of the 9yo bourbon, the 9yo sherry and the 10yo CS, then married them for around five minutes in a glass with a splash of water. What became apparent is how important dilution is, equal to the oloroso influence on rounding off the sharp edges in conjunction with good marrying time.What an insight this de-construction tasting has been, an insight into the complexities that go into making ‘standard’ expressions and the blending skills required to execute such a presentation. We call these single malts, but blending of the different components is what makes the mark.Thank you to Rebecca [Benromach] and the Whisky Lounge team for this experience.

30ml Sample from Whisky.Hedonist Nose - I like this nose, the aroma is gentle sweet , slight peat , oaky vanilla Taste - burst of sweetness , mild peat , Finish - warm little peaty finish , light lingering sweet medium finish , on 2nd sip peat is somewhat stronger

Tasting Notes by Benromach; Pour yourself a dram of Benromach – not too wee and not too big. Swirl the golden liquid around your glass and notice the AROMA WITHOUT WATER. In other words, take a sniff. Indeed, indulging in several little inhalations is the best way to pick up all the different notes… rich sherry with fruit & nut chocolate, delicate spice, green apples, malty biscuit and a touch of light peat smoke. Now sip your dram, roll the whisky around your mouth and enjoy the TASTE WITHOUT WATER... juicy raspberries and brambles, sherry, creamy malt and a light peat. Next, take in the AROMA WITH WATER... it’s a wee bit nutty with a touch of charred oak and malt, and there’s also some fancy pineapple and kiwi. Add a drop or two of water to release the full TASTE WITH WATER. Savour the succulent mouth coating and taste the toasted malt, delicate peat smoke and lingering sweet sherry… our gorgeous classic Benromach Speyside style of single malt whisky. What aromas and tastes do you sense?80% Bourbon barrels, 20% Sherry hogshead. Final year in first fill Oloroso casks.

So it sure is great to have a good barbecue with friends and family when the steaks are on the grill. He is really good! ten years? Really? Well, then it does not take long until Benromach has another supply. So that's on the list.

Not really my favourite dram. But a nice one nevertheless. Im generally not that much into sherry notes. The peatiness level on this one is nice though. Present but not taking over everything. In some ways this one is not that far from Talisker 10. That one I like more though. Its slightly more peaty and I dont really miss the sherry there. Benromach 10 is very well balanced peat and sherry. Its not as good as say Lagavulin 16, but then again its much cheaper.

Another classic of good quality. A quality / price ratio almost unbeatable. In this context, there is nothing wrong, everything is perfectly mastered.

Online Nosing and Tasting from www.whiskykoning.nl I won this bottle :)

If the rest of it were the same caliber as the nose, I'd score it much higher.

Light-ish, yet fruity, sherried, gentle and well-balanced. This 10-year-old ticks all of those boxes and the light level of peat smoke rounds it off nicely. And at about 35€ (at least that’s what it was when I bought it in 2014) it is a recommendable daily dram – and then some. https://dokla.net/dailydram/2015/10/14/tasting-benromach-10-yo/

RATING: 86pts – |83 – 86 (B) → Good| — Not a “must”, but a nice-to-have.

Pretty complex and interesting on the nose, very creamy, long finish - really good!

Pleasant and gentle on the nose, a little sherry, smoke very light, makes me think of raw ham. Strong onset, young and wild, peppery, fruity, no smoke, but in the end a little. Beautiful aftertaste, quickly fading and pleasantly dry, he remains in my memory. For a 10-year-old really many impressions.

I did not expect anything special when first tasting this bottle, but was surprised in a positive way. The nose is significantly fruity, but the whisky nicely combines the fruitiness with the woody tastes. Great dram.

Nose: it's crazy! Leather, tarry tow, smoke ... on getting on, we pass on more round notes, caramel, always coated with wood fire. Palate: creamy texture, greedy. Leather always, peppery notes, fruit. Final: long and pleasantly smoked. An excellent whisky to have at home, superb ratio Q / P.

It's an old-school, old-style whisky, that tastes like not much else you could find today (Springbank? Oban?).Really delicious and quite perfect.

The new 10 is significantly better than its predecessor, while retaining most of the components and the general style, the Molt became deeper and more saturated, went to the side of sweetness, got rid of the inclusions of smoke, sherry barrels had a clearly positive influence. It turned out to be a "heavy" young speaker with very decent depth and saturation with a completely commercial fortress. More of these updates in the lineup.

Nose:- Toasted bread, rich compote of fruits and woody. After a time, honey and raw vegetable emerge, marmite. Lightly peat. Palate:- Well rounded and gentle. Creamy, malty and full. Touch of berries fruits. Finish:- Smooth and easy. Spice hot, pleasant, good creamy aftertaste. Medium to full body. Excellent quality/price ratio. — with Benromach Whisky at The Whisky Bar, Kuala Lumpur.

A modern whisky with a style a bit "old fashioned". Essential in its price range.

A complex expression of first fill bourbon and first fill sherry. Very pleasant, very round, enjoyable at all. Concerning price/performance ratio: 9/10

A wonderful speysider with a few tricks up the sleeve. Non-chill filtered and natural colour, and a decent 43% ABV. At this pricepoint I am hard pressed to name a better contender for good allrounder from Speyside.

quite a moody dram, sometimes it really shines, other times it's a bit shy

the nose is a little more peaty than the old version, less chocolate and caramel, less sherry, more citrus. Mouth more iodized and smoke (even if it remains light), quite lively, a lot of pepper at the end of the mouth, but less gluttony. Final of fairly good length for 43%, peppered, slightly smoked. A different style of the old version, well done too.

Very good daily dram that has a very balanced profile of various "reasonable" flavours and yet a very defined personnality, ala HP 12 or Bunna 12. Can't go higher because palate and finish lack a bit of substance and evolutivity, but it's quite generous for 43% that said.

Leather, cherry and caramel, the three markers of sherry. It's obvious, so to speak. Waxed leather that smells like new, very red and crunchy cherry, caramel that comes straight from the pan, a little bitter. We add a light, ashy peat, varnished wood, and something like white fruit, a hint of orange. Vanilla and milk. In the mouth, it's fruity and spicy, it gives more on muscat grapes, sour apple, a little milk chocolate. The caramel becomes more present in the finish, which takes on a certain depth. Dried fruits and pomegranate seeds. Coal. An example of elegance and distinction. https://ilikesky2020.blogspot.com/2020/05/benromach-10-yo-43-original-bottling.html

A really beautifal dram.

really nice, well develop. good value for money.

perfectly balanced and approachable… cheap too

Well balanced und full bodied single malt scotch!

A fine standard.

For 10 years there is a lot going on, beautiful nose, lots of taste, slowly fading finish - the flavors change and surprise, the sweetness is nicely held by spicy and slightly bitter notes, a really nice standard, I like it.

Looks like the no one ever added bottle-dates/codes. I've had bottles from 2 batches so far which I've added as versions: 07/08/2014 4125104816 and 09/12/2014 4122101950 Did anyone see others ? ----------edit-------------- A friend (Medea on WB) send me his bottles' code after reading this, which is the same vatting as the 2nd of mine I would assume: 11/12/14 4122106945

You want bang-for-your-buck? This is it. Big recommendation to anyone, but surely not for the complete novice. (as this would be just too tough to get your head around) If it only had a slightly higher ABV... Oh wait, there's a 57% version ;)

On the nose I get a little Vanilla, loads of Fudge and a whiff of peat smoke. There is also a meaty note that brings Parma ham to my mind, I recall finding that in Clynelish as well. A flowery note lies underneath all that. The arrival is sweet, full bodied with an oily texture, almost chewy. A wonderful strain of smoke weaves through the other flavours. So well composed, the oak is there but just rounding everything off. With water it gets fruitier, forest fruits and raisins, honey and some lemon zest. The meaty note has developed into a vegetal one, lets call it cellery stock. The smoke is ever so slight now. The nose has certainly not improved with water, lets see what the pallet says? Still very viscous and quite sweet, some more oak as well. It has turned really flat now I would not add water to this Whisky, mind you 43% is allready as low as I like to go for drinking strengh. Medium finnish that leaves you with a taste of dunnage warehouse and camp fire. Well done Gordon&McPhail (owners of Benromach since 1993) quite the statement for a 10 year old. I really like this style a lot. Can’t wait for whats coming…

A fairly complex whisky, pleasant in the nose and yet quite powerful on the palate, alcohol is great, the maritime and herbaceous reminiscent of the Highland Park 12, which in my opinion has a little more salt and fewer herbs, and is also drier. A top whisky in this price range which is really fun.

has completely convinced me! A great fruity malt with a light smoke, everything very well integrated. Super all day dram, as a transition to the smoke bombs!

This bottling is approachable then its predecessor. The sweetness feels more clear, And the smokiness is tuned up. It might be more easy drinking, also the tastes are more intense, but a think it lost some of its harmony. The earlier version was slower, and understated compared to this one, though I prefer the older one. (This version is great as well -especially at this price range- but too sweet for my taste. 2015.08.28.

Unique leafy tobacco smoke, which gives the whisky an older feel and provides Benromach instant recognisability. Lacks a bit on finish unfortunately.

Very good whisky, shows excellent complexity as for 10 yo. Nice smokiness, but much softer than Islay expressions. I would compare it to the Bowmore style, but here sherry influence is rather weak. Anyway on my opinion this bottle is a must in a whisky lover's collection.

A good alternative to islays peat. Thick, oily, great peat integration with a nice amount of malt and sherry.

For me a really well composed whisky, in which smoke, oak and sherry complement each other perfectly and do not drown each other out.

(tasted at whisky lounge Esbjerg)

Here the official notes: Pour yourself a dram of Benromach – not too wee and not too big. Swirl the golden liquid around your glass and notice the AROMA WITHOUT WATER. In other words, take a sniff. Indeed, indulging in several little inhalations is the best way to pick up all the different notes… rich sherry with fruit & nut chocolate, delicate spice, green apples, malty biscuit and a touch of light peat smoke. Now sip your dram, roll the whisky around your mouth and enjoy theTASTE WITHOUT WATER… juicy raspberries and brambles, sherry, creamy malt and a light peat. Next, take in theAROMA WITH WATER… it’s a wee bit nutty with a touch of charred oak and malt, and there’s also some fancy pineapple and kiwi. Add a drop or two of water to release the full TASTE WITH WATER. Savour the succulent mouth coating and taste the toasted malt, delicate peat smoke and lingering sweet sherry… our gorgeous classic Benromach Speyside style of single malt whisky. What aromas and tastes do you sense? Tell us what you think. But after retasting I changed my former rate! >>>87P!

Delicious whisky, full of flavor, slight influence of peat but also spicy and sweet.

Nose: Aah, that delicious spicy note made up of vegetal notes, yeast, and furniture polish. And clear, fine campfire smoke. Mouth: Smoked something (salmon ham?) with a pinch of lemon pepper—interesting to see what's going on there! It's like drinking wood sap while eating ham. Finish: A long, harmonious finish, spicy on the one hand, but also honey-sweet wood aromas. Conclusion: It's always astonishing, the richness of flavors between sweet chestnuts, shoe polish, and Maggi. Add to that a delicious campfire aroma, with just a hint of dark fruit—wow. (2017)

What to say if not that this Benromach 10 years is certainly the most successful entry level of the market. Originality, spontaneity, several levels of reading, a vast and generous aromatic palette. It lacks a bit of length in the mouth to go into the upper category. But for about € 50, do not ask too much. A must-have!