Tag: james eadie

Benrinnes Blockbuster

Taste Review #78 – Benrinnes 13 Madeira Finish

Do you remember where you were when JFK was assassinated? Or when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon? Mmmm bad examples as I wasn’t even thought of then. Perhaps maybe 9-11, as everybody who remembers that should be of legal drinking age. I was on the Tog Mor, the vessel that lifted the Mary Rose from the Solent, only when the Twin Towers were collapsing we were in Tunisia building an oilfield.

The whisky I’m away to review for you today is special as I remember where I was when I bought it. Can’t remember specific month though November 2019 rings a bell. It was on the happy occasion when shopping in Inverness that when my ‘Better Half’ wanted to clothes shop that I was told to amuse myself while she pointed in the general direction of The Whisky Shop.

For once I had no problems complying with her wishes.

However, the Whisky Shop in Inverness is an massively overpriced tourist trap shop and the real excitement is in WoodWinters on Church Street. By time I got the text message to tell me my fun time was over, I’d bought two bottles of whisky and bored the pants off a shop assistant with whisky blether. The two bottles bought were GlenAllachie 12 and an independent bottling of Benrinnes from James Eadie, finished in a Madeira cask. It’s the latter whisky that I bring forward today.

Benrinnes Distillery

I’ve mentioned Benrinnes many times on this site, mainly because it is my favourite Speyside distillery. I have other Speyside distilleries in my virtual hand of Top Trump distillery cards that produce better whisky, but this one is my choice. Benrinnes is generally only released as a 15 year old in the Flora and Fauna range, but I’m discovering it flourishes very well as an independent bottle.

As I’ve reviewed Benrinnes more than once on the blog, I’m not going to run through its history, especially as I have another 2 or three to review. Suffice to say that the distillery sits on the lower slopes of Benrinnes, to the south of Aberlour in Speyside.

In good company

So, instead of retelling the story of Benrinnes, let’s look at the background to James Eadie. Whilst maybe not the most prominent whisky bottler, it is one of the older names in whisky.

Information from the James Eadie website tells us this – James Eadie (1827 – 1904) was a Scottish Brewer, born near Gleneagles, he was one of fourteen children. He was a self made man who eventually became a brewer and an owner of a portfolio of pubs. Eadie has acquired from his father a recipe for blending whisky, which was eventually widely dispensed in over 300 Eadie pubs. The brewery and pubs were eventually taken over by Bass and the whisky lived on but by the 1960’s were fading out. Robert Patrick, the great-great-grandson of James Eadie has revitalised the brand name. Robert has worked for Diageo, Beam Suntory and Ian Macleod Distillers, and is a Liveryman of the order of Worshipful Distillers as well as a Keeper of the Quaich.

With the company in good hands then let’s hope that the whisky lives up to promise.

Details

Benrinnes 13 Madeira Finish

The dram and bottle

Region – Speyside Age -13 years old Strength – 56.1% Colour – Tawny Cask Type – Finished in Bual Madeira Colouring – No Chill Filtered – No Nose – Stroopwaffels, vanilla, cappuccino, raisins. Palate – Malt loaf, nutmeg, apricot jam, slight orange peel hint too. Cinnamon appears with water. Finish – Medium long. Dark Chocolate bitterness, ginger nut spiciness. Citrus peel appears with water. Bitterness lasts right until the end

A generous dram.

Conclusions

Of course, I am going to be biased as a fan of Benrinnes. I’m trying to be as impartial as possible though it is hard to be when this whisky is so tasty. It has the oily, meaty character of Benrinnes in there, in part thanks to the worm tubs, yet the Madeira cask has added dark, sweet notes. I have to say it that I liked this a lot.

I do like the overall presentation of this whisky. Cask Strength, Age Statement, Natural Colour and Non Chill Filtered. The packaging is neat, impressive and in my mind suits the colour of the whisky within.

Speaking of colour, I often thought I could see hint of Rosè wine in the glass but could never catch it in my photos, so I may have imagined that. As I have distributed this whisky to a few of my friends it would be interesting as to what they think.

Under certain light I could see a pink tone. Just not under this light.

Unfortunately this whisky is no longer available at retailers as it has sold out. Only 313 bottles were released and it was a good dram. You may see it on auction sites but the main purpose of me sharing this review was to let you know what independent bottlers can do, and I thoroughly recommend looking at the James Eadie website (click here) to see what sort of produce they make. I am sure they will make a whisky that will appeal to you.

The cost of this bottle was around £67 if I recall correctly but if you see it at auction expect to pay about £100. I’ve seen similar James Eadie bottles go for the same, but while pricey, I’d still say the value is there for drinking but maybe not so much for collecting.

Yours In Spirits

Scotty

Index of tastings here

Index of articles here

Scotty’s Drams encourages responsible drinking. To find out the facts about drink, and where to find help if you need it visit Drinkaware.co.uk by clicking on the link.

Photo Credits

Benrinnes distillery – Martin Jenkins under Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

All Other Photos – Authors Own

Under The Influence?

Can our senses mislead us?

The morning I decided to write this article I was under the influence. Not just tiddly, mildly intoxicated or minging. I was outright paralytic, smashed out of my skull and totally incapable of thought. Not bad going for it not even being 9am. Before you think badly of me, and wonder how could I think of an article when not in full control of my bodily functions, I would like to point out that I was not under the influence of alcohol, at least not directly. However something got me so distracted that I couldn’t think of anything else and it was all based on one of my senses. Sight.

I wasn’t this far out of my box

We should know our 5 senses – sight, smell, sound taste and touch, but how many of them do we use when choosing a whisky? We cannot tell whether or not a whisky is any good without at least smelling or tasting it, so why had I let one of my other senses nearly override my common sense?

I’ll hasten to add it was not my fault. I’m in the true sense of a shirker blaming somebody else; perhaps I should be a politician. I received a mail shot last week from Hard To Find Whiskies which detailed the offerings they had from James Eadie, an independent whisky bottler. This email must have been targeted at me directly for not only must they know the one James Eadie bottle I have had been opened that week, they also must have guessed my primary weakness when assessing bottles to buy.

The specific bottle in question is from the Teaninich distillery in Alness, a stones throw away from Dalmore on the Cromarty Firth. It was 12 year old, so had an acceptable amount of age, but what grasped me was the colour. It was almost as dark as the infamous Beinn Dubh black whisky. Only being a James Eadie whisky, we know it will be natural colour, cask strength and non-chill filtered. Despite being tempted I decided to resist as the amount of bottles in the ‘awaiting tasting’ is getting ridiculous.

However, it was the colour that intrigued me. Diageo owned Teaninich is one of those distilleries that there are few official releases, the main one being the 10 year old Flora and Fauna bottling, of which I have a couple for collecting and one in store for eventual ‘tasting’. Teaninich is unique amongst Scottish distilleries, as it does not use a mash tun, but rather has a mash filter which enables it to get an ultra-clear wort, and helps provide grassy, malty spirit that is desirable for blending. I suspect the casks used are bourbon, given the light colour and flavour profile of Teaninich. So, seeing such a dark Teaninich played on my mind. I wanted to taste that sweet nectar, having been finished in a 1st fill Oloroso Sherry cask which is another of my weaknesses.

The Mailshot that distracted my senses.

My last James Eadie bottle was Madeira finished, which while not giving it a such a dark appearance, gave it a sort of pinkish hue in the glass and I have to say that I was entranced by it. Fortunately it turned out to be a decent whisky and there is probably no doubt that this whisky will be good as well, but we actually have no clue. So what is it that drives us to buy whisky based on colour?

Teaninich 10 Flora And Fauna. The colour I associate with Teaninich

I guess that we associate a darker colour with a particular kind of cask, with darker colours being predominately from wine or fortified wine styles of maturation or finishing. I have to admit that I am guilty of this as I do like the deep fruity tones of something like a GlenDronach 18 Allardice or something from the Glenfarclas distillery, or dare I say it, Macallan? Even thinking of Macallan with the Edition series where attention was paid to the colour, I must say it took all my effort not to break into my Edition 5, as the colour had alerted by brain to something tasty may lie beyond the cork. But this is where we have to be careful as not all colours are true. Many whiskies use E150a in various amounts to achieve consistency and depending on how honest the bottler wants to be, our mind can be tricked by what our eyes are seeing.

To this end, recently Glencairn Crystal Studio released a set of coloured Glencairn whisky glasses, so the person doing the tasting cannot be influenced by colour. And it’s a good idea, as one of the things we may mistakenly do is assume that a darker colour has either been in a cask longer or in a cask of a certain type, which could mislead our brain into misconceptions. To this end, taste, mouthfeel and aroma should be our only guides to the quality of a whisky.

Using a blind tasting set can help stop colour influencing our other senses

So, what about this Teaninich? Everywhere I look it has sold out, so it looks as though I will have to give up. I am looking on the secondary market where I feel I have more of a chance, but let’s just see. There will be other whiskies, perhaps very similar to this, and bottle chasing can often lead to overpaying. I guess I have to find that other misplaced sense. Common Sense.

Yours in Spirits

Scotty

Index of tastings here

Index of articles here

Scotty’s Drams encourages responsible drinking. To find out the facts about drink, and where to find help if you need it visit Drinkaware.co.uk by clicking on the link.

Photo Credits

Kermit– Shutterstock

Teaninich 10 – Whisky Hammer

James Eadie Teaninich 12 – Hard To Find Whisky

Glencairn Blind Tasting Set – Glencairn Crystal Studios