This Rare Single-Malt Scotch Spent 50 Years Aging In Sherry Casks
The half-century-old Benromach Scotch boasts a $26,000 price tag.
Single-malt distiller Benromach is releasing an incredible half-century-old Scotch this year with a hefty sherry profile, a heftier proof point, and an appropriately hefty price tag to go along with it.
While Benromach 50 Years Old is not the oldest whisky ever released by the brand, it’s among them—others, including a 1969 50-year released in 2019, exist, assuming that they’ve not all been poured and enjoyed.
Will this one be like the previous entry? Unlikely. Whisky casks are each as unique as the people who make and drink them. It’s not always the case that you get many details about the “cask” in question with these single casks, but Benromach’s record keeping notes that this barrel was first filled December 13, 1972, and was finally dumped to be bottled March 2 of this year.
With only 248 bottles being released worldwide, this single malt is going to be especially rare in domestic markets. The £22,000 price point translates to roughly $26,000 US, which does not include any taxes, tariffs, or the margin your rare whisky dealer will tack on for good measure.
The distillery didn’t offer a bottle for review (likely for the very reasons listed above), but they did share their tasting notes.
The single cask presents “notes of lemon and subtle smoke on the nose. Stewed fruit aromas are complemented by orange zest and a hint of aged leather on the palate, before the liquid’s long, full finish ends with cracked pepper and that wisp of smoke.”
A second set of notes appearing on Benromach’s website shared slightly different (but complementary) tasting notes: “Matured for 50 years in the finest Sherry casks, this exceptional aged whisky has decadent notes of stewed fruit and orange zest, followed by strawberry and fruitcake flavors. The finish is long and full, with cracked black pepper and a subtle hint of Benromach’s signature smoke.”
At 109.2 proof (54.6 percent ABV), it has certainly kept its vigor for half a century—while American whiskeys often see their proof points increase as they age, the same is not guaranteed by the aging climate of Scottish whisky.
Benromach is a Speyside Scotch distiller near the Inverness side of Scotland’s most well-known distilling region. If you were to throw a dart center mass between Macallan and Glenmorangie, you’d likely come close to bullseye-ing the site.
The brand traces its lineage back to 1898, though it went through some hard times before it was acquired and reinvigorated in 1993 by legendary independent bottlers Gordon & MacPhail.
Lest they not capitalize on their heritage and the whisky’s uniqueness, Benromach partnered with Ross-shire-based glass studio Glasstorm to create traditionally made decanters using the “highly skilled ‘battuto’ technique,” which sees the glass sculpted by hand, “making each bottle a unique work of art,” according to the distillery.
It’s a sentiment echoed by Glasstrom’s owner, Brodie Nairn, who said in a statement that there is “great synergy between the craftsmanship of glass blowing and whisky making. I first learned the battuto technique from a master glassblower over in Italy 25 years ago, and in turn I’ve trained my team. It has taken me a long time to find a project special enough to use it on but, at last, I found the perfect one.”
The 248-bottle final count is likely a quirk of the whisky’s slow evaporation—the “angel’s share”—over the time it has matured. When filled, sherry casks can typically hold between 600 and 700 bottles worth of whisky, which evaporates at a rate of around 2 percent per year.
But even with the scarcity and the price tag, I wouldn’t begrudge Benromach if two bottles “evaporated” at Glasstrom during the research and development phase. The bottles are beautiful, glassblowing is hot work, and it can make even the most accomplished artisans a bit thirsty.
