BenRiach 16 Year
The BenRiach distillery has been through some rough times since it’s founding in 1898. Unfortunately, it has been susceptible to the booms and busts of the industry over the past century and more, closing a number of times in lean years but always coming back. Even when whisky production was halted, however, some aspect of the place still functioned, even if only to product floor maltings sold to other distilleries. It has been owned by Glenlivet, Seagrams, and the BenRiach Distillery Company Ltd. before being sold to the Brown-Forman Corporation in 2016. Starting in the 60s, the distillery has expanded and evolved with each transition and each challenge. For most of its history, it was used as a component in blends and was not released as a BenRiach malt until 1994. Along with this BenRiach 16, the core line is comprised of 10 and 20 year offerings, along with a ranges featuring peat, wood finishes, and premium expressions.
AnCnoc 12 Year
Younger than some of the more famous Scottish distilleries, Knockdhu was founded in 1893 by John Morrison in Banffshire. The location was chosen not only for access to water and grain sources, but due to proximity to rail lines in the region. Production lasted for the most part continuously for almost a century, before it closed and sold to Inver House. Production began again in 1989 and continues unabated. Annual production is on the smaller side, around 1.9 million liters (18% of The Glenlivet’s annual output). The whisky is named anCnoc (gaelic for “the hill”) to differentiate it from Knockando, with a core range of 12, 16 and 30 year malts, along with a NAS peated range.
Corsair Triple Smoke Single Barrel
Some distilleries will sell off individual casks, either to producers like Gordon & MacPhail, or to separate parties like liquor stores, who bottle it themselves. Such was the case here, a single barrel from Ace Spirits of Hopkins, MN. Single barrel expressions like this offer a unique expression of the spirit, as each barrel can be slightly different from another due to all the factors that go into the whiskey making process. Normally, Scotchology likes to review whiskies that are generally available and not exceedingly rare or expensive; the thought process being that if you’re interested in what you see in the review, you can go out and get one for yourself. This is not one of those reviews, as the contents of a single cask are quite limiting. Rather, this review can help recommend the choice of seeking out single barrel expressions, and help shed a little light on what one of those barrels from Corsair is like.