BenRiach Distillery

By Elgin, Morayshire

History: Located in the "heart of Speyside" region of Morayshire, BenRiach displays all the traditional characteristics of a classic Speyside distillery. The distillery was built by John Duff in 1898 towards the end of the global whisky boom. Like many of Scotland’s distilleries, BenRiach has experienced highs and lows during its lifetime. A couple of years after opening, in 1900, it had to close due to the so-called "Pattison crash"– a financial crisis involving the Leith-based Pattison whisky-making family, which resulted in a period of hardship for the entire industry, and the resultant closure of many distilleries. After some more tough times BenRiach started to flourish when in 1965, as the Scotch whisky industry entered a golden era with new distilleries popping up and abandoned distilleries being brought back to life. The year 2004 marked the beginning of the most exciting period in BenRiach’s history. In April of that year, the distillery became independent, having been purchased by three entrepreneurs – Billy Walker, Wayne Kieswetter and Geoff Bell. Upon buying the distillery, the new owners also inherited some incredible rare whisky stock, with the oldest casks dating back to 1965. Their vision was to establish The BenRiach as a premium, high-quality Speyside malt.

The whisky: Being independently owned has allowed the distillery to be experimental, using innovative wood finishes and working with both peated and non-peated expressions. This whisky has a real cult following among the geeks and for good reason. The brand creates some wonderful and varied single malts, which I am always excited to get my hands on.

Favourite dram: There's a big selection of different expressions to choose from and the firm are constantly releasing new and exciting bottlings. I only hope that under its new owners they keep to this tradition. If I really had to choose a favourite I would go for the 16-year-old, which is delicious with notes of sweet barley and vanilla with a pinch of smoky peat. You can pick this up for around £50.

Why visit? The BenRiach Distillery is generally not open to the public. However, in response to public demand, they've started the Connoisseur’s Tour, a 1.5 hour tour finished off with a tasting of a selection of BenRiach whiskies back in their board room. The tours are only available on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10am and 2pm at a cost of £35. The distillery shop (only open after tours) offers a wide range of their single malts and merchandise, including a distillery exclusive bottling.

Interesting fact: Last year Scottish whisky entrepreneur Billy Walker sold BenRiach to Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman for £285 million. Although it's a success story it still makes me a bit sad the distillery is not in Scottish hands anymore.

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