Young BenRiach matured in a 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel.
Nose: Garden-fresh with buttercups, thistles and rose petals joined by toffee-coated green apples, and desiccated coconut. Running throughout – bakery notes of griddled wafflers, doughy bread and oven-fresh buns. Reduction revealed lemon peels alongside bread & butter pudding.
Taste: Sweeter and more confectionary-based – Jelly sweets, mango slices, guava and unripe pineapple sit with golden sugars, nougat and pancake batter. The development introduced preserved lemons and pepperiness alongside digestive biscuits. The addition of water ups the spicing considerably with addition pepperiness and ginger, tempered by some ex-bourbon creaminess.
Finish: Medium with creamy meringue, gentle pepper and charred cask ends.
A well-composed BenRiach that offers straight forward fruity sweetness together with pleasant bakery notes. Hard to go too far wrong.