BenRiach Distillery releases 30 year old peated single malt

The BenRiach Distillery has released BenRiach Authenticus 30 years old, a peated single malt Scotch whisky dating back to the 1980s.

Crafted from densely peated malted barley, the non-chill filtered whisky is rich and intense and bottled at 46% with its natural colour. It will be available at specialist retailers worldwide.

BenRiach Distillery master blender Rachel Barrie, said: “At the BenRiach Distillery we pride ourselves on our unconventional distilling philosophy, creating unpeated, peated and triple distilled malt whisky. As the oldest expression in our peated range, we believe Authenticus 30 years old will impress with its distinguished profile.

“It is a more intense Speyside malt which carries a delightful balance of wild honey and peat on the nose. The combination of the soft, creamy vanilla, summer fruits and slight hint of cocoa coax the palate, while the infused sweet peat builds gradually to complete the unique character.”

BenRiach Authenticus 30 Year Old

In the 1970s, BenRiach began distilling a proportion of its whisky using peated malted barley, marking a return to the flavour and character of the original Speyside malts of the 19^th century.

BenRiach peated single malt whiskies are distilled from peat cut in the North-East of Scotland, containing wood derived from ancient trees, heather and bracken.

The burning of this peat releases sweet smoke and aromatic spices through the malt and into the whisky, reminiscent of a campfire in a Speyside forest.

Today the distillery holds an inventory of peated Speyside single malts dating back as far as 1975.

Research by leading whisky expert Charles MacLean indicates BenRiach was the first Speyside distillery to release a peated expression since World War Two.

This was BenRiach Curiositas 10 years old in 2004, which remains part of the core BenRiach peated range today.

Since then, the distillery has experimented with peated wood finishes and the first BenRiach Peated Cask Strength release, a peated Speyside single malt in its most natural state.