Benriach Distillery

Lots of businesses get off to a rough start. But few have crashed as badly as Benriach Distillery did early in its life and still managed to turn things around. Built in 1897 by local distillery owner John Duff, Benriach was barely three years old when it closed in 1900. Many distilleries were shutting at the time as the market collapsed and Benriach was to stay closed until 1965.

 

During this long period of silence, the maltings alone continued to operate at the distillery. They sporadically provided malted barley for the neighbouring Longmorn distillery. This played a role in Benriach only being mothballed rather than outright demolished. The maltings were eventually decommissioned in 1998 under Seagram Distillers.

 

Built at Morayshire in the Speyside region, Benriach draws its water from the Burnside springs deep beneath the ground below the distillery itself. In 1965 the distillery reopened under new owners Glenlivet Distillers Ltd. Glenlivet carried out massive reconstruction works internally, but kept much of the outside appearance at it had always been.

 

In 2004 the distillery was bought by an independent consortium who formed the BenRiach Distillery Company. That year saw Benriach release five new bottlings, and every year since has seen several more. These include a wide range of experimental wood finishes. In 2016 the company was bought by its current owners Brown Forman.

 

Today Benriach revels in its unconventional reputation. Its Speyside style is complemented by a wide range of peated and unpeated bottlings. In recent years it has also become one of a small but growing number of distilleries that have taken up triple distillation once again. The floor maltings were also reopened in 2013. Yet another example of going against the grain, as most distilleries have abandoned in house malting.

 

The distillery operates four stills, eight stainless steel washbacks, and a 5.8 ton mash tun which gives it a production capacity of 2.8 million litres. Only a small part of that is triple distilled whisky, coming to 15,000 litres in 2019.

 

The core range is made of the Heart of Speyside, the intensely fruity 10 year old, and the 12 year old Sherry Wood. This breaks with the typical of usage of oak casks for aging, instead triple maturing in different Sherry casks for a layered spicy flavour. A 21, 25, and 35 years old round out the main range.

 

The peated single malt range consists of the intensely peated Birnie Moss, with rich peaty notes joining the characteristic Speyside fruitiness. It is joined by the 10 year old Curiositas; the 21 year old Temporis mixed from casks of American Bourbon, Virgin Oak, and Olorosso and Pedro Ximiniez Sherry; and the creamy, honeyed Authenticus 30 years old.