Benromach Contrasts: High Enzyme – 2012/2024 – 1st Fill Bourbon Barrels

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 46% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

For this limited Contrasts release, Benromach used unpeated barley with particularly high enzyme activity, a type more commonly used for grain whisky. The distillery thus explores a different raw material from those used for its regular malts.

Distilled in 2012, this single malt matured exclusively in first-fill bourbon barrels for twelve years. Benromach bottled the whisky in 2024 at 46%, with natural colour and without chill filtration. The 0.7-litre bottle comes in gift packaging.

Its fresh fruit notes range from green apple and citrus to pineapple. Malted barley, jasmine, honeycomb and pepper add further accents, while charred oak and peppermint shape the finish.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The nose brings lemon sweets, malted barley and green apple, followed by jasmine.
• Palate: The whisky is sweet and creamy on the palate, with pink grapefruit, lemon, lime and pineapple. The pineapple is followed by honeycomb and spicy pepper.
• Finish: The finish feels fresh and lingers with charred oak and peppermint. Light lemon, spice and drying wood add further notes.

Distillery/Bottler:

Benromach was built in Forres in 1898. The Urquhart family behind Gordon & MacPhail acquired the closed distillery in 1993, restored it and reopened it in 1998. Benromach uses lightly peated malt for its regular whiskies; the Contrasts range allows it to explore other raw materials and maturation methods. High Enzyme, by contrast, is made from unpeated barley with particularly high enzyme activity.

At the distillery, the barley is milled in a four-roller Boby mill. A small distilling team also relies on its senses to monitor production. The whisky is double-distilled and bottled by Benromach itself.

Facts: