Benriach

Introduction:

Benriach Distillery offers a wide selection of distillery bottlings, categorized into different ranges such as Classic Speyside, Peated, Wood Finishes, Peated Wood Finishes, Single Cask bottlings, and Super Premium. The distillery is known for its fruity, floral character with delightful honey notes, which can be found in every bottle. Benriach frequently employs wood finishes, crafting a diverse range of Whiskies that combine sweetness with varying levels of peat smoke. Their Peated Wood Finish range features particularly robust and intense expressions, sometimes even incorporating very old Whiskies aged up to 20 or 30 years.

Production:

Benriach Distillery produces approximately three million liters of alcohol per year. With four stills and its own malt production, Benriach remains deeply rooted in tradition within the Speyside region. Nestled in the Moray area of Scotland, the distillery sources water from the Burnside Springs.

Pot Stills:

Benriach’s pot stills are uniquely pear-shaped, deviating from the typical Speyside Whisky profile. They lack a constricting piece or reflux bowl in the neck, while the lyne arm descends after the bend. The condenser is situated outside the main building. Distillation takes place in two wash stills (16,500 liters capacity) and two spirit stills (9,500 liters capacity). The slow six-hour distillation process allows for meticulous separation and results in a refined distillate. While temperature control is automated, the transition from the initial distillate to the heart is still manually managed using the Forsyths Spirit Safe from 1975.

Malting:

Benriach produces its own malt, although it’s unclear if their malting floors can fully supply the distillery’s production output. Nevertheless, visitors to Benriach can experience the malting process during distillery tours. The malting floors were temporarily out of use but have since been reactivated, utilizing the well-preserved original equipment. Benriach employs both unpeated and peated malt for their Whiskies.

Mashing:

Benriach’s Mash Tun is constructed from stainless steel and can hold 25,000 liters of mash. Each mash consists of 5.8 tons of grist mixed with water. The distillery employs four mash cycles, with the third and fourth washes recycled for subsequent runs.

Fermentation:

Benriach utilizes eight wash backs, each with a capacity of 33,000 liters. Notably, the fermentation process at Benriach is considerably long, averaging around 100 hours. This extended duration allows the yeast to develop a wide array of flavors, resulting in a more fruity and intense character after the yeast becomes inactive.

Warehouse:

Benriach stores its casks in traditional “dunnage warehouses” with clay floors, alongside larger racked warehouses for increased capacity. The distillery utilizes a diverse range of casks, including Marsala casks, sherry casks, bourbon barrels, quarter casks, and French wine casks. In their “vatted program,” Benriach sells malt or spirit to international distributors for blends, with the bottles not bearing the Benriach name.

History:

Established in 1898 by John Duff, who also owned the Longmorn Distillery, Benriach faced production cessation in 1900 due to a sluggish Whisky economy. However, it continued to supply malt to Longmorn. In 1965, Glenlivet Distillery Ltd. acquired Benriach, leading to its permanent reopening. Ownership shifted to Seagrams in 1978

Visitor information:

The Benriach Distillery Company Ltd
By Elgin
Morayshire
IV30 8SJ
Tel: 01343-862888
Email: info@benriachdistillery.co.uk