Mossburn Vintage Casks No. 21 Benrinnes 10 Year (Distilled in 2008)
Mossburn Vintage Cask Series No. 21 Benrinnes 10 Year Old
Next up is a Benrinnes 10 year old Speyside scotch that was released by Mossburn as part of its Vintage Casks series. This is “No. 21”, distilled on Dec. 10th, 2008 (Batch No. 26.0708.21) and bottled at cask strength. Mossburn is another independent bottler who has also gotten into the production game with Torabhaig on Isle of Sky and Reivers in the Scottish Borders region south of Edinburgh. This is my 2nd Mossburn bottling but my first from Benrinnes so I don’t know what to expect.
ABV: 57.1%
How it smells…sweet, marshmallow & cotton candy, earthy, black walnut fruitiness…with a dab of water, not much changed but perhaps a bit more coppery.
How it tastes….sweet at the start followed by toffee and some peppery notes. The end is malthy sweet with caramel and the finish has a robust maltiness, like a rich cappuccino…with water, you get more of that maltiness and the toffee and caramel really shine. The finish becomes more chocolatey on the malt scale, with less of the darker malt coffee flavors.
Price…. $90
Rating...🥃🥃🥃🥃
Final thoughts….I really liked this. At first the smell reminded me of the Glenfarclas 105 or the SMWS Glenallachie that I reviewed a bit ago, but then it settled down and was more on the sweeter side. Overall, the smell and taste are really different though. After opening up, the smell was very sweet and fruity. The taste, though, is much more malt-forward with a touch of spice/pepperiness, but filled with a rich & creamy mouthfeel. You do get some earthy undertones, but just a bit to elevate the malty flavors. With water, the cappuccino becomes less coffee-like and more mocha-like, but the sweetness is pervasive throughout the sip, never dominating, but playing a strong supporting role. It certainly makes me want to try more Benrinnes. I enjoyed this so a 4x🥃 rating seems appropriate even with the $90 price tag for a 10 year old. If this was a NAS I would be none the wiser of the age as it doesn’t taste “young” at all. Unfortunately, owned by Diageo, I don’t think they really go to market as a brand, instead probably used for blending purposes so I will have to scour the independent bottlers to try some other releases.
