BenRiach Temporis 21 Year

Searching my scotch collection for something with a significant age statement to bring to my father's place a couple weeks back. He enjoys when I bring something new he can open first. I purchased this bottle several months ago from the U.K. and was quite eager to try it. So, here you go, Dad - crack it open! The BenRiach Temporis is a smoky expression featuring an in-house mix of 21-year-old scotch derived from four distinct origins: virgin oak, ex-bourbon, Oloroso, and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. This could be excellent or a confusing mix - it should demonstrate the distillery master blender's abilities. It's bottled at 46% and cost me $153. It has a caramel gold hue and is very oily in the tasting glass. Sparse legs and tiny drops form and remain after a quick swirl. The aroma starts with earthy smoke, toffee chews, and sherry. Some charred oak and malty fruits blend nicely after allowing it proper time and a little swirling in the glass. There are no hints of alcohol or heat. The taste introduces cooked fruits: both tropical and orchard types. It leans more towards apples and pears until past the midpoint, when it becomes more tropical. Once the fruitiness fades, smoke and earthy mushroom notes appear alongside light oak and vanilla. The mouthfeel is quite impressive - the liquid actually feels very smooth, with an aged quality. It's a good balance between watery and moderately oily. Creamy is the word I'm searching for. The flavors do become a bit muddled nearing the medium-length finish. The ABV provides a pleasant warming sensation, with sherry and toffee completing the final oak notes. In summary, it's a superb scotch. There's a fine line whether the flavors are expertly combined to prevent anything from standing out, or if it's just the indistinct effect. I doubt any of the liquid used is from first-fill casks (apart from the virgin oak, naturally), but that prevents any single notes from shining and also allows the older scotch characteristics to dominate. I truly believe a finishing cask would have obscured the good and the bad, so kudos to BenRiach for avoiding that path. However, something makes me wish a cask had taken the lead role here - I'm not sure why, as I did appreciate this bottle. Interesting tidbit: after opening this for my father, he ended up transferring two-thirds of the bottle into a couple of flasks for his golf bag - so, after my initial pours and one or two samples, this bottle was finished in just a few days. If that doesn't prove its quality, nothing will. 4-4.25 stars because the price is a bit high. Cheers.

BenRiach tasting evening in Sydney on June 24, 2019. Whisky #5 Nose: Sweet woodsmoke, campfires, abundant aromatic tobacco, vanilla, brown sugar, toffee, leather, and a touch of vanilla. A phenolic oak note is present, strangely like old-fashioned resin circuit boards (in an appealing way - see below). It offers a mellow, soft, and relaxing smoky character. Palate: A soft arrival of dark fruit compote (stewed apples, dates, raisins, figs) is joined by a potent puff of phenolic smoke and a hint of soft oakiness. This is significantly more peaty on the palate than the nose suggests. It becomes fruitier as it develops (orchard fruits, tropical fruits), sweet in the middle, but eventually dries out toward the finish with an aromatic pepper note and some cocoa. Hints of orange zest and cranberry emerge. The texture is velvety and refined. Finish: Medium to long. Oak, chocolate, a bit of toffee, and a trace of dark rum in the aftertaste. The nose presents smoky notes, but it's a sweet woodsmoke, like the appealing scent from a meat smoker. The more common Islay-style peat-reek is there, but only faintly and it disappears quickly. I detected an aroma like burning electrical insulation, but this isn't an acrid, unpleasant smell; it's more like the scent of an old-fashioned electrical workshop. If you've ever soldered wiring onto phenolic resin turret boards in a high-voltage tube guitar amplifier, you'll know exactly what I mean. It's been a couple of years since I last tried a peated BenRiach, and frankly, I wasn't anticipating it, as they hadn't impressed me before. However, this is quite different from earlier expressions and possesses a very comfortable "gentleman's smoking lounge" vibe. It sits on the meatier, more robust end of the mainland smoky spectrum, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd compare its quality to something like Laphroaig 18 year (though the profile is entirely different), and the prices are comparable. "Very Good": 86/100 (4 stars)

On Wednesday night, we sampled five BenRiachs and three GlenDronachs, all aged over 21 years on average. No bottle was bad, but this 21-year-old was my top BenRiach pick from the two smoky drams we tried. I had previously tried the BenRiach 10 Curiositas, their basic peated bottling, and thought it was decent but forgettable. The 21 is vastly superior. The nose offers a distinct minty peat that is captivating due to its novelty. Imagine bottling the essence of a fresh sea wind; this is it – invigorating, briny, and slightly sweet. That minty peat reappears on the extended finish, carried by the wind. Much like most of the BenRiachs tasted, this expression blends four different casks, a hallmark of master blender Rachel Barrie. I was greatly impressed by her skillful flavor balancing and admire a distillery forging its own way, distinct from the many ex-bourbon or wine-cask dominant whiskies. I eagerly anticipate revisiting Temporis repeatedly.

The influence of virgin oak is potent with this one...DV. Minty peat, as noted by RMD. I concur with LE; a nice drop, but it would have been beneficial to see the other casks, which I also believe have been refilled to the utmost, take a more prominent role. I also find it challenging to enjoy anything described as '...mint'. Benriach peat combined with an excellent cask finish is often amazing; this is good, but not at that level. I'd rate the 22 yr Moscatel, 18 yr Albarize, and single cask port versions significantly higher. It began at 4.25, but that spearmint/peppermint is genuinely a bit overpowering, slightly artificial, and irritating me. It's usually in bourbons I encounter it, but given its heavy first-fill virgin oak presence, it makes sense. It ultimately settles at 3.5, and if I owned a bottle, I suspect it would fall lower as I'd grow quite tired of it. It's interesting that I also observe considerable variation in tasting note descriptions... is it personal taste buds or differently blended batches? If you enjoy minty peat and have the same batch as this, you'll be thrilled; if not....

The pour is viscous, with substantial sheeting and slow legs. It has a lovely golden brass color. The aroma is extraordinary, surpassing Lagavulin 16. It's deep, complex, profound, and astonishing! Beyond the peat, smoke, barrel, wood, and oak notes, along with vanilla and honeysuckle, I detect numerous subtle nuances. This might be the finest aroma from a peated scotch I've ever encountered! Simply wow... The palate possesses DEPTH. Peat, iodine, saline, honey, orchard fruit, and barrel notes are present. This is superior to Lagavulin 16. Significantly better... The finish is sublime: slow, spicy, peppery, sophisticated, and complex. This is the first time I've instantly awarded a perfect score to a scotch whisky. Temporis is that exceptional, in my opinion. It is definitely worth the purchase price and is highly competitive with the few whiskies I've sampled at this premium level.

This BenRiach offers substantial depth and complexity, presenting more fruit than previous ones I have tasted. It's quite rich with plum and spice, a fair bit of smoke, and a perceptible but disappointing level of peat. All in all, it's a respectable spirit that would be improved by a stronger peat presence to truly elevate and balance the fruitiness.