Benrinnes Distillery Focus

A stereotypical Speyside Malt is generally described as sweet, fruity, and floral, and the perception is that it is lighter in style. However, Benrinnes Distillery whisky would certainly fit into a vastly different category, which can only be described as ‘meaty’ along with fellow Speysiders; Cragganmore, Dailuaine, and Mortlach.

For Benrinnes, this full-bodied flavour comes from its incredibly complex distillation style. Today Benrinnes Distillery falls under the vast Diageo empire with nearly all the production destined for their Johnnie Walker and J&B blends. This means that finding a bottling of this Malt is rarer than a hot summer's day in the Highlands. If you do get a chance to try this wonderful Malt the first thing you will notice is how big-bodied and viscous it is - it really is a unique experience trying it. Benrinnes Distillery itself is located at the foot of the famous Speyside mountain, which is of course where the name comes from.

Opened in 1826 the history of the distillery has been quite unremarkable with the liquid hidden from view until the late 1990s when the first limited edition bottlings occurred. From researching this distillery, the scarcity and lack of availability have given Benrinnes a real cult following amongst the whisky enthusiast community. This is a clever addition to the portfolio as you have a rare whisky that will be in great demand with the Independent Bottlers; the whisky itself has a very unique style and it is owned by Diageo. There seems to be no reason why the supply and demand of the marketplace will not continue to push the value higher and higher.

Fact File

Name: Benrinnes 

Founded: 1826 

Region: Speyside 

Owner: Diageo 

Capacity: 3.5m litres 

Stills: 6 

Fermentation: Variable 65 to 100 hours 

Peated/Unpeated: Unpeated 

Casks Used: Mainly bourbon casks. 

Current Sales: N/A 

Recent significant awards: None entered 

Independent bottlings: Around 1100 

Core Range: None