BenRiach 17 Year Old Septendecim

A different kind of smoke.

BenRiach is a story of loss and return. John Duff founded the distillery in Morayshire back in 1898. Just two years later the stills were mothballed in the wake of the The Great Whisky Recession and famous Pattison’s bankruptcy. In order to keep the lights on, Duff malted grain at BenRiach and distilled at Longmorn. The property changed hands several times among industry giants. But then a group of passionate dram-lovers contacted the famous Whisky expert Billy Walker to help them rescue this noble house in 2004. Today it is one of the rare, independent Scotch distilleries.

In the word “Septendecim” you see the Latin roots that tell you this is a 17 YO single malt. Geographically, it is a Speyside Whisky from Morayshire west of the Spey River that’s aged exclusively in ex-Bourbon casks.

But this edition is peated and smoky, so it sips more like a combination of a fruit-forward Speysider and a smoky Islay dram. And it pours out of the bottle at a healthy 46% ABV without chill filtering, so all of the complex flavors come through in the best way possible.