Benromach Contrasts: Peat Smoke 2009 is a Speyside single malt Scotch from Benromach Distillery in Forres, Scotland, owned and bottled by Gordon & MacPhail. It is produced in small batches using heavily peated Scottish barley at around 53-57 PPM and matured exclusively in first-fill bourbon barrels from 2009 to 2020. It is bottled at 46% ABV, is non-chill filtered and of natural color, and retails in the $40-60 range.
Things change on the palate, with iodine and seaweed initially pressing hard for attention over a furnace blast of heat. Blackberry and overripe Honeycrisp apple notes ease things up a tad to finally achieve some sort of balance towards the finish, which is long and full of orange zest, bread and mild smoke.
