2014 Benrinnes 11 Year Old "Old Particular" K&L Exclusive Single Cask Strength 1st Fill Sherry Butt Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Name: 2014 Benrinnes 11 Year Old "Old Particular" K&L Exclusive Single Cask Strength 1st Fill Sherry Butt Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)
SKU: 1941489
Rating: 0 (2 reviews)

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David Othenin-Girard

K&L Buyer

Review Date: November 2025

The wonderful Benrinnes distillery is truly a special place. I was honored to tour the lovely little distillery and have quite a funny story about the people there that is not fit to print publicly, but it has endeared the whole operation to my heart forever. We kind of crashed without an appointment, and they took pity on us. The distillery manager was lovely, and we had a great tour. Anyway, I like the profile this distillery exhibits in almost any barrel. It's very approachable but loves a great sherry butt, yet I was shocked to find out this is the very first sherry butt we've ever done as an exclusive. What a treat. Let's dig in. The color is an attractive chestnut (1.2). The nose offers an explosion of sherry and malt, but it's not at all singular. I've let this rest for some time in the glass, and it continues to open extremely well. First nosing is nutty nougat, cherry jam, burnt sugar, freshly polished leather, dried apricots, gingerbread, and hints of dark earth spice to balance. On the palate, the creamy richness is undeniable, and the sweet and spicy characters are at war throughout - big Christmas spice up front, sweet red fruit through the middle, and complex herbs on the finish. The punchy character and rich texture beg for a drop or five of water, and indeed the addition, plus some extra air time, adds many layers. Somehow the nose becomes sweeter and darker, with a raisin-like resinous character emerging. The palate adds fudge, chocolate, and deep dried fruit, with an almost Szechuan pepper numbing character on the finish. It's just super pleasurable, interesting, and delicious. It's not a dark, tannic sherry bomb, yet it's still full of sherry character. The key here is the gorgeous oily texture and wild, lingering finish.

Staff Reviews

Aaron Hughes

Review Date: 11/2025

There's a few distilleries in Scotland that I feel like I can just pick up a bottle of anything with their name on it, and I'm going to have a good time. Benrinnes is one of these, I don't actually know much about the distillery itself but I'm always down for a good time and I've had a few from Benrinnes before and they've all been incredibly delicious. This one comes from a Sherry Butt, which despite being worth a giggle, means that's it's one of the larges barrel sizes Sherry comes in, so it's going to be first fill influence, but in a larger barrel than if it was a Sherry hogshead, and the color does seem to indicate this as well, it's a very dark transparent copper and really pretty in the glass. The Sherry barrel and the grain are really harmonious, twining about each other with neither willing to take a back seat to the other. Honeycomb, sultanas, heather and jasmine flowers, touches of demerara, and fresh green apple skins. The palate is much more grain forward, dusty with lots of malt, pepper, and more touches of the sherry barrel along with some toast and barrel spice. The palate has a super unctuous and oily texture, really lingering on the palate with the fruit fading away leaving touches of barrel toast and spice. This is such a tasty little dram, and at this price it's super well priced for what it is. Don't be afraid of it just being 11 years old, this is mature, well balanced, and just a really enjoyable sip. A great bottle for when people tell you they like Scotch but neglect to give you any other information. It happens a lot.

Notes

Benrinnes is a historical and unique distillery in the Speyside region. Founded in 1826 and completely destroyed by a flood in 1829, it was rebuilt in 1835 a few kilometers from the original site. Once again devastated by fire in 1896, it was fully reconstructed in 1956. Benrinnes gained international recognition for the finesse of its whiskies, produced through its distinctive 2.5-style distillation and traditional worm tub condensers. Much to the horror of Benrinnes lovers everywhere, the brand switched to standard double distillation in 2007. Now nearly two decades later, it's clear that the wonderful hidden distillery at the foot of Speyside's tallest mountain has not lost its luster. Our friends at Douglas Laing have deep stocks from this delightful distillery and selected this exceptional cask for us for the 2025 whisky season. Its beautiful sherry character is distinctive yet harmonizes perfectly with the rich, robust malt produced by the charming Benrinnes spirit stills and their iconic worm tubs. You'll have a hard time finding better value for money in a cask strength single sherry butt anywhere in the world.

Details

Type	Single Malt Scotch
Varietal	Malt
Origin	Speyside, Highlands, Scotland
Bottle Size	700 mL
Alcohol Content	57.6%
SKU	1941489