Whisky : Benriach 6 Year; Duncan Taylor ‘The Octave’

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 55.5%

Cask : 6 Year Refill Hogshead, 3 mo. Sherry Octave

Age : 6 Years (Distilled 2011, Bottled 2017)

Nose : Rich and sweet like the gust of warm air from a donut shop on a cold morning.  Bear-claws, maple bars, cinnamon buns, apple fritters, and sweet caramelized nuts.  Heady aromas of malty grains, fruit, wood smoke, and meaty maple smoked bacon.

Palate : Medium bodied and exceptionally rich.  Stone fruits, cherries, raisins, grilled fruits, canned peaches, and bruised pineapples.  Sweet grill smoke, maple bacon, cinnamon, and tobacco provide depth to the fruity palate.  Meatiness builds overtime like a spiral or Christmas ham stuffed with pineapple and cherry.

Finish : Long and lingering, brown sugar, barbecue smoke, and grilled fruit.

Score : 8

Mental Image : Spiral Ham.

Something Similar : Westland Hand-filled No. 3204 (similar bacon/pastries, more cocoa/earth)

Something Similar : Ledaig 13 Year; Single Malts of Scotland (similar maple bacon, more spice)

Something Worse : Elements of Islay Peat & Sherry (similar bacon/jam, more cocoa/apple)

Notes : We picked up this bottle at Astor Wines on a visit to family in New York.  I love grabbing special or unique bottle while on vacation— it is the perfect souvenir or keepsake.  Every time I open it I have the chance to reflect on our trip… especially all of the food we ate.  Astor had a load of great looking bottles to pick from, I gave my wife a few options and suggestions for what we might grab.  She did a quick internet search on a few of them— something most people do at some point— hoping to find some kind of review or notes or anything in order to judge the bottles and pick one.  No one wants to buy a bottle blind and then be totally disappointed.

Despite the fact that there were only 62 bottles of this, behold, there was a review on reddit.  The review was quite positive— and u/shadowdude777 expressed a lot of the same anxiety in regards to the totally blind purchase of a bottle.  While they may have gambled and made, what sounds like, an out of character impulse decision, thanks to their review, the wife and I had at least some idea what we were getting into.  I absolutely love the number of obscure low outturn bottles that have been reviewed on reddit because they seem to be written precisely for moments like this.

This was absolutely lovely— and in terms of gambling, easily a jackpot.  I cannot believe this is only 6 Years old, it easily blows some of the older peated Benriachs I have had out of the water.