MASTER OF MALT announce limited edition bottling by BenRiach and Caskstrength.net

MASTER OF MALT announce limited edition bottling by BenRiach and Caskstrength.net

Drinks writers Neil Ridley and Joel Harrison of Caskstrength.net have teamed up with BenRiach whisky distillery to produce a single cask, Single Malt Scotch Whisky. This limited edition bottling is available only through Master of Malt.

Online retailers Master of Malt are proud to announce the exclusive release of a limited edition bottling of 16 year old BenRiach Single Malt Scotch Whisky selected by renowned whisky journalists Neil Ridley and Joel Harrison of Caskstrength.net.  Working directly with BenRiach, Mr. Ridley and Mr. Harrison hand selected a single cask to release this limited edition run of 296 bottles.

The whisky was distilled in 1996, aged for 16 years including 4 years in a Pedro Ximenez sherry cask, and bottled in July of 2012. The whisky is a single cask whisky (cask #5614) and was bottled at cask strength at 55.2% abv.

This bottling represents the second in a series of ‘A-Z’ bottlings to be released by Caskstrength.net. Their first release was an Arran Single Malt Scotch Whisky and sold out in a matter of days on Master of Malt. The Arran release has since become a collectors’ item and has tripled in price in the past year. Caskstrength.net has yet to reveal what their next release will be.

Each 70cl bottle is labelled with the ‘Cask Strength and Carry On’ logo, is individually numbered, and is hand signed by both Mr. Ridley and Mr. Harrison. The first 50 bottles will be sold with a limited edition ‘Cask Strength and Carry On’ cotton carrier bag.

Tasting notes:

Nose: Toffee sweetness and Werther’s Originals spring out of the gate. The PX finishing is extremely apparent with brown sugar and Christmastime notes with  a hint of salted caramel and just a whisper of granny’s old baking-and-spice cabinet.

Palate: Rich, dark, and dried fruits roll down like an avalanche and lead into a river of caramel and toffee. Some soft potpourri and candied lemon peel pops up its head but doesn’t overpower. Begins elegantly and reveals a more powerful flavour with time.

Finish: Long and lingering, it carries the salted caramel through to the back of the throat for a pleasantly drying finish thanks to the Pedro Ximenez sherry casks.