“Every element of this bottle is handmade,” is how Stephen Rankin introduced Benromach’s 50-year-old single malt whisky. Rankin is the fourth-generation scion of Gordon & Macphail and owners of Benromach – the smallest distillery in Speyside Scotland, located in the ancient town of Forres. In Singapore to preview the latest release, Rankin sat down with CNA Luxury for a dram.
Only 248 bottles of this rare single cask whisky are made, bottled at a cask strength of 54.6 per cent ABV. The whisky lost 65 per cent to the angel’s share (whisky evaporates yearly during ageing) over five decades, morphing into a beautiful, concentrated amber liquid.
The “handmade” reference earlier, extends to the liquid, the ageing and the decanters in which it is bottled. Even today, Benromach follows the age-old traditions of a manual process set in 1898. “The yeast is spread manually.
The cuts are made by hand. It’s not an automatic thing. Every step is completed by hand, sight, and touch,” he said.
As for the decanters, the whisky is captured in individually numbered and handmade decanter crafted by Ross-shire-based Glasstorm and etched with exquisite Italian battuto-style detailing. Battuto is a skill of master glassmakers, one like Brodie Nairn at Glassstorm, who can painstakingly create countless small and irregular marks on the glass surface. Rankin shared two additional details of the release.
First, only 100 decanters from the 248 will be released in the first year, with Singapore being one of the key markets. Second, the pricing will be consistent in all markets. “With our partners, we are making sure that it is equivalent to that price in all markets,” he stated.
The release price is set at S$31,500 (US$24,123). THE CUSTODIANS Despite being one of the lesser-known distilleries, Benromach’s old-school craftsmanship has earned a loyal following. Part of the charm lies in its curious past and style — a combination of classic Speyside with a dash of smoke.
Rankin, who is among an elite coterie of Master of the Quaich, the highest honour of the whisky industry, recounted the shared histories of Benromach and Gordon & Macphail in his endearing Scottish style. Established at the turn of the 19th century, Benromach’s production was interrupted by two wars and resumed only to change ownership multiple times till it was shuttered in 1983. Through the turmoil, the old casks quietly aged in the dunnage warehouses.
Gordon & Macphail finally resurrected the mothballed and almost-ghost distillery in 1993 with new stills, mash tun and equipment, and since then, the distillery has flourished. In a similar timeline, the family-run enterprise Gordon & Macphail started as grocers on the corner of South Street in Elgin, Scotland (the shop from 1895 is still operational). The business quickly pivoted to whiskies — selecting, purchasing, and maturing whiskies from local distilleries and matching the spirit with the suitable oak.
Over 128 years, the establishment, now managed by the fourth generation, garnered a reputation as exceptional bottlers. They purchased a few distilleries along the way; Benromach being the first. The white building, with red accents, is conveniently located 13 miles from the home base in Elgin.
“We inherited a building with the sole structure, but everything inside of any value had been removed. The roof hadn't been maintained for a long time, and generally, it needed a lot of TLC. But the optimist that George Urquhart was, what he saw was a blank canvas,” recalled Rankin of his maternal grandfather.
Through four generations, Gordon & Macphail had mastered the art of independent bottling, whereby they purchased liquid and filled it in their own casks, carefully curated through select bodegas in Spain and Kentucky, down to the storage and maturation strategies. Urquhart was meticulous about the warehouse location and the ambience it was surrounded by. He even specified the rack position, where the whisky barrel would spend its years: Preferably, a lower one for its coolness, but never the highest, for the risk of too much evaporation.
But Urquhart longed to own a distillery, and Benromach fulfilled that desire. Over five years, the distillery was refitted with two smaller stills and new mash tuns, with two constants: The water source from Chapeltown Spring and the wooden washbacks, which were recreated with wood from olden times. “It gave us the ability to go and recreate a character and a spirit that we believed was Benromach,” said Rankin.
The new Benromach was finally opened by King Charles, then Prince Charles, in 1998. BENROMACH’S STYLE Benromach is a Speyside whisky but it’s not the typical estery and fruity whisky people think Speyside should be. It has this peat element.
That’s the Benromach signature. Think Glenfiddich and Glenlivet. But as whisky writer, Dave Broom noted in his book, The World Atlas of whisky: “Speyside is all about diversity, not commonality.
” Benromach is different. It built its reputation for its wisp of smoke undertone to the ripe orchard and tropical fruits notes, a character Gordon & Macphail were determined to maintain despite the new equipment. “Our barley is all Scottish, and it's sourced from as close to the distillery as possible,” said Rankin, as is the peat, which imparts “floral, heathery, a little bit sweet, honey, element to it, and a softness to the whisky.
” The 50-year-old Benromach single cask, single malt whisky belongs to the old times, when the smoke was an inherent feature of all Benromach. “The cask was laid down in 1972,” confirmed Rankin, while pouring a dram of the whisky in each glass and guided the tasting picking notes of blossom, strawberry and pineapple fruit. The whisky showed a warmth of ginger, leather, a touch of umami and an herbal, almost licorice element.
“As you are drawn in, it gets richer and richer,” he said. “There's a great complexity to this whisky. This slight smoke note is back to that old school.
” An old-school Benromach, or even Speyside is unique and rare. A relic of the days gone past. In fashion, it’s the equivalent of releasing a vintage Chanel dress that has never been seen in public.
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