Benromach 19 Years Old Rare Malts Selection 63.8% 1978

Professional reviews

Words of Whisky (88)

:

Color Amber

Nose
Creamy and very malty, with hints of sweet porridge, a touch of coconut shavings and a bit of glue also. Behind all this is a thin layer of plums, stewed pears and apricots.

Taste
Agressive arrival, to be expected at this high strength. Water is no luxury. Lots of chili pepper. Once that quits down a bit, there's a layer of fruit. Oranges and apples. A tiny, tiny trace of smoke.

Finish
Candied oranges. Tannins and oak, with a touch of menthol.

Comments
You need to add water, but then it turns into a pretty rewarding whisky.

BOW (91)

This is an old vintage bottle and the closure may have deteriorated; When opening care should be taken. The item is sold as described.

Maltfasciantion.com:

Sniff:
Decidedly old-fashioned, with Benromach already being an old-fashioned style distillery. Funky, with some yeast, lots of steeped barley and a good helping of oak. Good quality oak, I might add. Some dried mango and apricot, a whiff of tobacco.

Sip:
Another gentle arrival, but this one quickly builds up to some chilli heat. Not too much, though. Some dryness starts coming through, with oak, leather, barley. Flavors of funky dried fruit come through, the too-old stuff. Leathery tobacco leaves, dried mango, papaya and apricot.

Swallow:
The finish goes full on for the ‘old style’ stuff. Much more funky than before with yeasty, overripe fruit and leathery tobacco leaves.

What a dram! If this would have been the regular quality level of what Benromach turned out before they shut down, I really don’t get why that ever happened. It does what Benromach does very well, with a slightly clunky spectrum of scents and flavors. It does work so well, though!