BenRiach 6 Year Old 2011 - The Octave (Duncan Taylor)

This is a review for a 7-year-old bottling at 53.2% ABV. Distilled in 2011 and bottled in 2018. It spent 3 months in an octave cask, bottle 42/79. The $67 price plus tax seemed worth the gamble. The nose offers fruity, smoky, meaty, nutty, and honey notes, all in roughly equal measure. The palate is quite similar. It's a bit on the thin side, perhaps due to its youth, but the proof is good. The finish is quite ashy. Someone described the 6-year-old version's taste as Christmas honey smoked ham with cherry and pineapple, and I think that's spot on. It's so accurate that I suspect enjoyment of this bottling likely depends on your preference for Christmas ham. I'm a fan of ham, so I like this one, but I can see how some might not appreciate the meatiness.

7 years old. Smoky, like ham. Very young, the octave cask seems to quickly impart sherry flavors, but the notion that it makes it taste older is an absurd marketing ploy.