BenRiach 12 Arumaticus Fumosus Dark Rum Finish – Whisky Tasting Notes

My good friend Manny sent me a few BenRiachs from his native Austria, and I looked froward with anticipation to tasting them. Four of them were the four 12-13 year old peated finish expressions, all bottled at 46%.

Photo Credit: whiskyexperts.net

I have had the 17 year old Solstice, which is outstanding. So I know the BenRiach peated spirit works well with finishes, at least with the port finish.

So I came to this series with great anticipation, and this is probably where I went worng. As a general note, this series is young-ish, and while I didn’t have the chance to taste the peated whisky unfinished and on its own, I found that something doesn’t work with all these. With each of the finishes it’s something slightly different, but the short of it is that something in the connection between the peated spirit and the finish isn’t complete.

BenRiach Arumaticus Fumosus 12 Year Old – Dark Rum Finish (46% ABV, NCF, NC)

Appearance: Gold, thick and relatively quick legs.

Nose: Peat over sweet fruit, ripe banana and some dough.

Palate: Peat with caramelized banana.

Linger: Mainly peat with a sweet stripe along the middle of the tongue.

Conclusion

This is very simple whisky, decent enough for a dram but not much of the rum in the picture. Something in the finish didn’t quite connect with the spirit. Having tasted this after the Solstice, I must admit to being surprised, but I guess those five years are really significant for the