BenRiach

Mothballed in 1900, but reopened for distillation in 1965, Benriach is a distillery on the up after a difficult start. It was originally opened at the end of the 19th century by John Duff, owner of Longmorn, and continued to provide malt to their sister distillery until the 1960s. 

Following a series of ownership changes (including Chivas and Pernod), and a small number of unremarkable single malt releases, Benriach was bought by an independent consortium in 2004 and has since gone on to produce one of the industry’s most diverse range of whiskies. 

BenRiach is located in the Spey Valley and produces peated, unpeated and triple distilled single malts. They also use a variety of casks for maturation, including sherry, bourbon and virgin oak.  

Their entry-level bottling is The Original Ten, which is three cask matured and carries delicious notes of honeyed fruit. There is also The Smoky Ten, which marries peated and unpeated spirit. The core range also includes 12,16, 21, 25 old expressions, but if you want something a bit different, look out for their limited Cask Editions or Malting Season bottlings.