BenRiach 18 Years Old Latada

By Barry Bradford on September 6, 2016 • ( Leave a comment )

BenRiach 18 Years Old Latada (46%, OB, 2016)

Category: Speyside single malt scotch whisky
Origin: BenRiach Distillery
Bottling: BenRiach Distillery Company
ABV: 46%
Cost: £71.45

What they say

Unusual for a Speyside malt, the BenRiach Latada is distilled from peated malted barley. The whisky has been matured in American oak casks, then finished in Madeira casks. ‘Latada’ is the name of the traditional trellised vine system on the island of Madeira where the vines are laid out horizontally above the ground on low trellises. Bottled at natural colour and non chill filtered.

Official tasting notes:

Nose: Torrents of campfire peat smoke infuse heather honey and ripe pear. Hint of cantaloupe and candied citrus add to a luscious, crisp balance.
Colour: Rich antique gold.
Taste: A mouth-watering sweet peat character floods through delicious ripe fruit syrup. Dried apricots combine with warm oak spices and gently citrus zest, giving a contrasting depth to the long finish.

What I say

Following in the footsteps of the BenRiach Albariza, comes the Latada, another 18 year old peated BenRiach matured in American oak and then finished in ex-wine casks, on this occasion Madeira.

My tasting notes:

Colour: Dark amber bronze (11/20) medium-thick & oily legs
Nose: Slightly smoky and sweet, dusty and musty, powdered icing sugar sweetness, lemon, kiwi, peach, melon, pink grapefruit, bittersweet, almond paste
Taste: Smooth and buttery, oily, butterscotch toffee, caramel, juicy melon, peach and apricot, wisps of smoke, beechwood smoked Bavarian ham / black forest ham, meaty/savoury
Finish: Medium, sweet, beachwood smoked ham and melon

Overall:

Another beautiful expression from BenRiach, our notes really don’t do it justice but imagine a board laid out with finest beech wood smoked ham and fresh cut melon slices, that sweet and savoury complexity that comes from swapping between meat and fruit, in essence (again) something much greater than the sum of its parts is created.