Benromach 10 & Sassicaia Wood Finish Review

Benromach 10 – Distiller: Benromach. ABV: 43%. Age: 10 years.  Region: Speyside. Price: $50.

Benromach Sassicaia Wood Finish – Distiller: Benromach. ABV: 45%. Age: 9 years. Region: Speyside. Price: $60-70.

There’s a lot to love in the current Benromach lineup. The 15-year-old (review here) and the Imperial Proof were two of my favorite drams of 2015. The distillery, revitalized by Gordon & MacPhail during the 1990s as they sought to expand from independent bottling to distilling as well, emphasizes its smallness. It’s the lowest-production working distillery in Speyside, even after doubling capacity recently, and is operated entirely by three people. The brand is also focuses on its “pre-1960s Speyside” profile, by which they mean lightly peated. (That applies to all but the more robust Peat Smoke bottling.)

Benromach has also mixed things up with some limited wine cask finishes, the latest of which is a Sassicaia finish–a Bordeaux-style Tuscan red. To appreciate the particular qualities the finish brings, I tasted the Sassicaia Wood Finish alongside the standard Ben 10.

I can say without hesitation that the 10 is a first-rate daily drinker. The nose leads with sweet bourbon fruits, especially pear. There’s also cinnamon stick, raw ginger, and a little grapefruit. On the palate, the touch of peat adds great warmth, pointing up the flavors of baking spice and buttery malt biscuits. The body is relatively light. The peat extends the medium-dry finish very nicely.

The 9-year-old Sassicaia adds a few more proof points (bottled at 45% ABV) and has a gorgeous rosy-orange tint in the glass. The nose has more vanilla bean and custard than the 10, with a floral note too: violet? Lavender? The palate adds orange blossom to the 10’s profile, with the peat a bit lighter, and a drier oak on the finish.

A welcome variation on a great new standard, and a relative rarity with just 3,500 bottles made.

Cheers, friends! – BO

Benromach graciously shared samples with us for review. As always, our opinions are 100% our own.