PASSING THROUGH LORRAINE WITH MY WHISKY – Score: 7/10
Can a Scotch single malt carry you to eastern France? This one makes a convincing case. Distilled at BenRiach in 1999 and drawn thirteen years later from a single cask, #119, it opens with the golden, sun-warmed sweetness of mirabelle plums — the little fruit that Lorraine has made its emblem.
BenRiach knows a thing or two about journeys. Founded in 1898 by John Duff in the heart of Speyside, the distillery fell silent only a couple of years later and stayed that way for most of six decades, before its stills were fired up again in 1965. It is also one of the rare Scottish distilleries to have kept its own floor maltings.
In the glass, the texture is the first thing you notice: oily, generous, coating the palate like a ripe fruit syrup. The mirabelle stays in the lead, with grape following close behind, while a touch of pepper keeps the whole from tipping into sweetness.
A single cask with a real sense of place, even if that place is a few hundred miles from Speyside. Not a revelation, but a well-built, fruit-driven dram that is easy to return to.
