Benrinnes 2012 - 12 Year 'Charred Oak Hogshead - Cask 170613'

• Single malt Scotch whisky selected and bottled by Single Cask Nation
• Cask #170613
• Distilled at Benrinnes [ben•RIN•ess] Distillery in Aberlour, Scotland (Speyside)
• 100% unpeated barley
• Water is sourced from the Rowan Tree Burn, the Scurran Burn, and the Benrinnes Spring
• Aged 12 years; matured for 9 years in ex-bourbon cask and finished for 3 years in a first-fill new American oak hogshead
• Distilled winter 2012 and bottled fall 2024
• 248 bottles produced
• Bready and malty on the nose, with notes of ripe persimmon, charred oak, caramel, chocolate, and a dusting of cinnamon spice. Everything shifts just slightly on the palate: persimmon becomes dried papaya, caramel and chocolate merge to become toasted cocoa nib, cinnamon spice becomes cinnamon bark—all over a malt that’s pleasantly earthy and inflected to oak. Cracked pepper, vanilla extract, and cocoa powder on the finish.
• No added coloring
• Non-chill filtered; bottled at a cask strength of 57.9% ABV

Named for the Ben Rinnes hill, this Diageo-owned Speyside distillery was founded in 1826 and for a long time was known for a rare, partial triple distillation that produced a robust, meaty spirit. Though that style of distilling was abandoned in 2007, the characteristic flavor, now more earthy and rounded, largely remains, and the malt is used primarily in Johnnie Walker and J&B blends.