BenRiach Heart of Speyside

BenRiach Heart of Speyside is a classic, youthful, and approachable Speyside Single Malt.

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 moth-balled in the wake of the The Great Whisky Recession and Pattison’s famous 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.

The first thing you need to know is that BenRiach Heart of Speyside is a high quality Single Malt in the classic Speyside style, as you would expect. They make no statement to this effect, but it seems to us that they wanted to develop a new, entry-level product for their line. What that means to you is that this real-deal Single Malt is fresh and youthful, but still radiates all the other attributes that people love about BenRiach Whiskies is signature profile of pear, honey, Highland herbs, and oak. If you are new to BenRiach, think of Heart of Speyside as a youthful Glenfiddich and you’re nearly there.

Smartass corner:
We don’t speak ancient Scots Gaelic — wouldn’t that be cool? But we’ve found a few sources that say that “BenRiach” translates as “speckled mountain.”