I stumbled upon the BenRiach booth at Cinderella Whisky Fair this year and ended up trying a lot of their offerings as well as basically acting as mini brand ambassador, sending people over to try their stuff. Especially this one, the 21-year-old, stood out as one of the nicest surprises on the fair. I did try both the 25 and 30 as well. They were gorgeous but also many times more expensive than this 21. Here's a proper review of it after some time has passed. Does it still hold up?
1.0 (Deep copper)
Nose
Vanilla scented candle, pears, a little bit of smoke. I could nose this all day long.
Palate
Toasted nuts, pineapple, light peat. The peat isn't very upfront, but arrives with slowly increasing intensity. It never passes the "light peat" threshold, though.
Finish
Tropical and some more (dry) smokiness.
Superbly put together and this is what I think about when people talk about "integrated" whiskies. Everything fits together, there's a clear and focused profile, not too many distractions, it makes sense. It's tasty too! Fresh but mellow. A perfect dram if you want a sweet and simple whisky. Great stuff.
Score
90 / 100
0-50 Subpar
51-60 Drinkable
61-70 Decent
71-80 Good
81-90 Great
91-100 Fantastic