Distillery/Brand: Benrinnes | Region: Speyside | ABV: 53.3% | Colour: Old Sauternes
Nose: 23 | Palate: 23 | Finish: 23 | Balance: 23
Strength: 25 | Variety: 23 | Quality: 23 | Harmony: 23
Final Score: 93

Review
Master of Malt, apart from being a fine whisky shop, are quite accomplished independent bottlers too. I’ve tried a number of their offerings and they seldom disappoint.

With Darkness! they’ve decided to do something quite bold. Taking existing spirit from different distilleries they subject it to 3 months in 50 liter casks previously filled with Oloroso or PX sherry. The smaller surface area created a far greater interaction between liquid and wood and out came sherry monsters.

This Benrinnes was 15 years old before being dropped in a PX cask and left to darken for 3 months. My sample is from a brand new bottle and served at a cask strength of 53.3%

Nose: Jam. Jam. Sticky jam. Caramel marchiatio. Brownies. Tamarind. Brown sugar. Black pepper. Becomes beautifully crisp over time. Even takes on some rose petals. It’s like literally sticking your nose into gooey, sticky jam. Definite sherry bomb. 23/25

Palate: Burst of cinnamon. Oak. Dates. Fudge. Chocolate. Hint of coconut oil. Black pepper. Gets savory mid-palate. Coffee beans. Burnt toast. Betel nut. This is very chewy and quite thick. Lovely. 23/25

Finish: Long. Oak. Cinnamon. Warm coffee. 23/25

Balance: 23/25

Strength: Yes, please. More cask strength the better. 25/25

Variety: Lots of flavors. Right across the spectrum. 23/25

Quality: Certainly no expense spared here. 23/25

Harmony: On point and consistently solid. 23/25

This is a lovely little experiment and given that every single bottle on MoM’s site is sold out can only mean they’ve done a fine job with this.

Rating: 93