For what I understand about an organic whisky is that if the barrels have been used before, the content must have been also organic. Therefore, it is easier to use virgin oak when making organic whisky.
@TheGoodDramShow4 жыл бұрын
Hi. I had to check with Mark at Waterford about this, because I wasn't 100% sure, but according to Mark it is the ingredients (barley) and the production (distillery) which needs to be certified organic not the casks the spirit is matured in apparently. You would have thought that, as you say the prior contents of the cask should have some bearing, but that appears not to be the case.
@@TheGoodDramShow Thanks for the answer. And I assume that it is the same rules all over the EU.
@paulgibbs36244 жыл бұрын
Enjoyed this episode cheers Chris.
@TheGoodDramShow4 жыл бұрын
Thanks Paul.
@MrChristopherMolloy4 жыл бұрын
I do like the look of the new bottles 👍
@welshtoro32564 жыл бұрын
I'm the opposite Christoper. I'm sure it wouldn't bother me if I wasn't aware of the old look.
@MrChristopherMolloy4 жыл бұрын
@@welshtoro3256 that's what makes the world go around.
@welshtoro32564 жыл бұрын
@@MrChristopherMolloy Indeed
@jasoncoates18354 жыл бұрын
@@welshtoro3256 Yeah, I'm with you. Has a bit of an "own-brand" feel to it. Not convinced.
@TheGoodDramShow4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for all the comments on the packaging, I'm sure they would be interested to read those comments.
@ericgilbert81144 жыл бұрын
Great tasting. I'm a major fan of Benromach, I'm sure like most watchers here. The Cask Strength Batch 1 2019 was heavily sherried influenced then I remembered and the Benromach spirit character holds up, but was the first bottling I found since 2017. I would love to try this more re fill Bourbon influenced batch for one. Cheers Chris
@TheGoodDramShow4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the comments Eric. It certainly seems that there is a lot of love out there for Benromach!
@russell37334 жыл бұрын
Great show, Chris! Many thanks for the run-down on the newly tweaked BRs and good to hear they haven't gone all out for Sherry cask dominance with the revamp. Regarding the ABV on the core range it makes me wonder if G&M simply take a down-to-earth commercial view of their distillery, aiming it more so at the average whisky buyer (and thus the larger part of the market) rather than the whisky enthusiasts and geeks (who definitely make up the much smaller niche market). After all, with their G&M independent bottling range they already cater for the niche market in every sense of the word, as they've been doing for well over a century. And, as you said, there may be aspects of the Benromach core expressions which appeal to a broader range of palates at 43%. On top of that there may be certain tweaks in the production process which speak more for the domination of the lower ABV rather than the 46% which many of us geeks would obviously prefer. At the end of the day they've got to run a business and work out the best model that suits. And we as whisky drinkers will make our decisions with our wallets. At any rate, it sounds like there's a lot to look forward to as we slowly get to know these new expressions. Cheers!
@welshtoro32564 жыл бұрын
I hear what you're saying Russell but I'm somewhat saddened. Benromach, aka G&M, are a business and they want to maximise profits. That's business and fair enough but I think in this case there's a fine, a very fine, line of killing the Golden Goose. The new packaging and the rubbish abv for a £125 bottle are worrying signs. Benromach just about get away with it for the 15 but that's it. G&M have undergone an aggressive new approach and not for the better in my opinion. It's clear that they think they can push the boat out an get the consumer to spend more. The 43% stuff they now offer used to be 46% and we all know that is a particularly important 3% difference. Let's face it, Benromach is not on supermarket shelves. The only people that buy it are whisky geeks that know their stuff. The 43% on the 21 year has nothing to do with the balance of the whisky and everything to do with maximising potential sales. I don't want to see Benromach go the way of Balvenie.
@russell37334 жыл бұрын
Welsh Toro All good points, Welsh. Yep, the 21yo would have been the ideal candidate for the 46% treatment, as it's out of the financial reach of the majority of casual buyers (a bottle of scotch for a birthday, an anniversary or a Christmas present). But otherwise BR's core range resembles that of many other distilleries: a 10yo, a 15yo, a cask strength, a peated version and a kinky organic experiment. So I imagine these expressions are designed to lure both the enthusiast as well as the casual whisky buyer. But, as Chris would say, at the end of the day it is what it is. And we, the purchasers - or non-purchasers as the case may be - hold the key in our hands as to whether we decide to bite the cherry or not. We have the luxury of a scotch whisky market which affords us a great choice - even in these times when many a distillery is losing fans due to poor and opportunistic pricing policies which may well return to haunt them. Many thanks for your reply - and cheers!
@TheGoodDramShow4 жыл бұрын
It seems this weeks episode has definitely sparked some debate, which is good. Like I said I would have liked to see the 21yr at 46% more from a technical angle I suppose, but it certainly didn't suffer from being bottled at 43%. And yes, you both have made some very valid points
@welshtoro32564 жыл бұрын
A fine overall review as always. Would like to see a Part 2, if possible, with the wine matured range that they do. Yep, I'm a big fan of Benromach. I'm not too keen on the Organic but it's okay; the 10 is delicious and good value as is the 15 and they just about get away with the 43%. I'm absolutely not impressed with the 21 year being bottled at 43% and I wont be buying a bottle at £125. That goes down as a huge blunder and a worrying sign from G&M who seem to vacillate between 43% and expensive cask strength these days. I'm sure it tastes good but that's just rude. The new cask strength range is decent but not as good as the 10 year Imperial it replaced in my opinion. I like the Peat Smoke and find that when the bottle has oxidised a bit it improves and the Spey character comes to the fore. Final gripe - The Packaging. I know we all want to be nice because it's Benromach but these new bottles and labels just look like any old bottle. The old design was far better and I gather the change was for the benefit of the 'International Market'. Final positive - I've a number of Benromach limited and single barrel expressions which really are excellent and these things fly under the radar. My distillery of the year, last year, but I really hope they don't mess things up like the 21. Cheers Chris, I'll be in touch about the zoom. WT
@j.r.lalancette45884 жыл бұрын
Serge Valentin on Whiskyfun just reviewed the wine matured ones this week - they got some pretty dreadful reviews. Serge has a very similar palate to Chris so it's worth checking out.
@welshtoro32564 жыл бұрын
@@j.r.lalancette4588 Yes, I read the review and it was precisely because of the panning I thought it would be good to get Chris' take on them. Horst Luening reviewed them and liked them. It's the one branch of Benromach I've avoided largely because of Serge's previous low ratings. Cheers.
@TheGoodDramShow4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the comments WT and thanks to you both for the comments. I'll have to see what I can do about samples of their wine finished releases, but historically they have been fairly variable if I remember rightly.
@WhiskyBuzz4 жыл бұрын
What a great video :)
@TheGoodDramShow4 жыл бұрын
Glad you liked it!
@MrChristopherMolloy4 жыл бұрын
I totally agree with you about peated whiskies outside of Islay & The Islands. No more than 20 ppm is about where I want to see the other region's peat-levels; about where Springbank is ✌️
@TheGoodDramShow4 жыл бұрын
Thanks Christopher.
@j.r.lalancette45884 жыл бұрын
Waterford tasting next week!! Awesome! Can't wait to see what your palate will tell us. Good work as always!
@TheGoodDramShow4 жыл бұрын
Thanks JR. You could well be right about next weeks episode!
@thomasmccrory71944 жыл бұрын
top notch
@TheGoodDramShow4 жыл бұрын
Thanks Thomas.
@oldfarmshow4 жыл бұрын
👍
@TheGoodDramShow4 жыл бұрын
Thanks.
@puressenceuk354 жыл бұрын
Never tried Benromach, one to add to the list
@TheGoodDramShow4 жыл бұрын
That's what I like to hear!
@kirks.18543 жыл бұрын
I get so annoyed trying to find the one or two reviews that Im interested in. It's asking a lot to expect the viewer to watch the whole flight. My advice is to make the pictures longer with more frames so the viewer can find the bottles he wants to hear reviewed. Thanks for the reviews! always great! Took me FOREVER to find the CS. And the list doesn't match the picture order ever. Match those two things
@TheGoodDramShow3 жыл бұрын
I'm sorry you feel like that. I always hope that viewers watch the entire episode. The title picture doesn't always reflect the order due to 'artistic' reasons. Unfortunately Powerdirector doesn't let me time stamp videos. I can create chapters but they only work if I rip the video to disk rather than upload it. I could always look to put timings against the various bottlings in the comments box.
@kirks.18543 жыл бұрын
@@TheGoodDramShow Thanks. I'm a faithful viewer and I always like. Im a subcriber. timings in comments box would solve my problem. It's hard in this day and age to watch the whole vids. I watch some all way through but most about half