BenRiach 1984 27 Year Old Single Cask Peated Tawny Port Finish

BenRiach has a staggering number of single cask releases. This particular one is very interesting: peated malt distilled on Oct 10 1984, then matured for 27 years, first in hogshead #4050 then finished in a tawny port cask, yielding in 2012 283 bottles. This comes from their ninth batch of limited releases. It is non-coloured and non-chill-filtered.

The colour is like that of a dark rum. On the nose - wow. Meaty and rich, a perfect balance between peat and dark fruit. Rum-raisin, papaya and dry hay (in fact, an entire barnyard is in here). A dry, recently emptied humidor. Musty, more so with water. I love it.

On the palate, the port walks in and almost takes over. Beef stock, raspberries, fruit syrup, mocha. Very earthy and grapey. Some nice spice to it as well. Water brings the peat more in balance with everything else. Beautifully done.

The finish is long and deep, fruitiness everywhere sprinkled with paprika. This is wonderful, enormously complex and balanced. Absolutely delicious. Unforgettable - and thankfully so, since the chances of coming across another bottle of this is extremely unlikely!

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