Benriach 12 yr Smoky Twelve Single Malt Whiskey 750ml

Benriach Distillery sits in the heart of Speyside, a region better known for gentle, unpeated malts than for smoke. In the early 1970s the distillery broke with that convention, reviving an older nineteenth century style of distilling that used barley smoked over Highland peat. That willingness to work against regional habit still defines Benriach today, and under distiller Dr. Rachel Barrie the house continues to explore both its smoky and unpeated sides.

The Smoky Twelve is built from a combination of peated and unpeated spirit, matured separately for a minimum of twelve years across three cask types: bourbon barrels, sherry casks, and Marsala wine casks. Once each component has reached maturity, the whiskies are married together, allowing the sweetness of the sherry and Marsala casks to soften and round out the peat rather than compete with it.

The whisky pours a burnished gold. The nose offers smoked vanilla, charred orange, and toasted almond, while the palate brings dark chocolate, dried fruit peel, and brown sugar layered over smoked oak. The finish lingers with cocoa and orange smoke, warm and long without turning ashy.