Benriach Smoke Season Scotch Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

About a month ago, Brown-Forman brought a pair of Benriach whiskies across The Pond and to American Shores, these named for two seasonal practices of the distillery. Smoke Season is so named because Benriach sees only a single production run of peated whisky per year, a short run at that. They use malt that has received a strong smoking with Highland peat, and for this expression they drew entirely on that stock of spirit. However, the peated whisky was aged in a variety of American casks: ex-bourbon barrels, toasted new oak and charred new oak.

Dr. Rachel Barrie, Master Blender for all of Brown-Forman’s Scottish holdings, is behind this creation. Smoke Season is said to be the peatiest malt to ever emerge from Benriach at that.

The Scotch
A pour of Smoke Session has a rich, golden color in a Glencairn glass. I found the nose on the faint side, but the current of malty sweetness was immediately evident, this tinged with ash and charred oak.

A sip gave me a quite silken mouthfeel, and a stronger presence than what the aroma brought out. The malty, honeyed sweetness continued, developing a note of green apples. This is fast subsumed, however, by a rising tide of earthy, unflavored but creamy oatmeal; and a mild, but nonetheless bitter wave of smoke. The finish turned woody, before running down into smoky again before dissipating.

Although the peatiest whisky to come from Benriach is hardly a smokebomb, it manages to combine a range of elements distinct from the more familiar smokers from Islay or the Highlands; it is unquestionably a Speyside malt. Keeping that in mind, peated malts from Speyside are still uncommon, and sometimes are not quite as distinguished as Smoke Session. Adding that to the price, and this Benriach single malt becomes a very worthy buy indeed.

The Price
Benriach Smoke Session costs £53 in the UK and $75 in the US.