Temporis, a time honoured tradition or an insight into the future..
BenRiach to me always conjures up thoughts of “typical” speyside flavours, fresh, fruity, and rich flavours that feels like a perfect fit for my palate.. But if we look back over the years it shows us that BenRiach was possibly the first Speyside distillery to re-introduce the use of “peated” malt, add this to the impressive portfolio of expressions and you get a very dynamic distillery.
Temporis, meaning “time” in Latin is a perfect name as this expression takes us back to the styles of whisky making and time honoured traditions from the 19th century where the use of peat to dry the barley was far more widespread.
Built in 1898, BenRiach unfortunately only produced whisky for 2 short years before becoming “ Mothballed” due to the “ Patterson crash “ of 1900 where the whole whisky industry struggled to survive.. Benriach laid dormant for 65 long years and only survived due to its sister distillery Longmorn using the malting floor.
This Benriach Temporis was created by Master blender Rachel Barrie who describes the creation as “ A superbly balanced malt “ , created using 4 different cast types ( Bourbon barrels, Virgin oak, PX and Oloroso sherry casks ) the Temporis is said to still hold the Benriach signature style.
Bottled at 46% abv this Benriach Temporis 21yo is also naturally coloured and NCF.
Nose.. With an initial hit of smoke this soon opens up to offer some dried fruits, soft spices and fresh orange peels.. A hint of ginger infused chocolate shows up with soft oak lingering in the background.
Palate.. Again the smoke engulfs everything, The fresh fruits like apple, ripe pear and oranges along with plum, dates and spices all wear a smoky jacket.
Finish.. Lingering spices wrapped in smoke.
Thoughts.. For me this is all about the interaction between smoke and spices, the fruitiness is there and it tries it’s best to show up to the party but I say again this is about the smoke..
Some drams are totally overpowered by peat and smoke but although the smoke is dominant it’s still rather soft, this allows it to be very enjoyable and not too heavy. The marriage of 4 casks is done extremely well ( no surprise there though as Rachel Barrie is one of the best out there) with none of them showing dominance, there is a nice depth and plenty of complexity in this 21yo and the price tag of around £135 does not seem over excessive..
Benriach Temporis..
With thanks to BenRiach and Spey progressive communication for the official sample..
ocdwhisky.com 