BenRiach The Smoky Ten is a Speyside whisky with a peat habit, and it tastes like a fruit bowl that has been left near a bonfire. This BenRiach The Smoky Ten review is about a 46% peated malt that costs about £45, tastes of sweet smoke, orchard fruit and vanilla, and is a lively, layered, very drinkable dram.
I like it a great deal. Speyside is supposed to be sweet and fruity, and BenRiach has looked at that and added smoke, and the result is more convincing than it has any right to be. It is the smoky malt I would give to somebody who is not sure they like smoke.
BenRiach sits at Longmorn, near Elgin, in the heart of Speyside, and it was founded in 1898. It was closed in 2002, reopened in 2004 under independent ownership and bought by Brown-Forman in 2016, along with GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh. The BenRiach distillery is known for experimenting with peated malt as well as the classic unpeated spirit.
The Smoky Ten is a ten-year-old, bottled at 46% and made from peated malt. The cask mix is not something I could confirm with certainty, so I would check the label for the details on your bottle. Peat explained covers what the smoke is, and the BenRiach Original Ten is the lightly peated sibling that shows the unpeated side of the house.
A baked pear on a smouldering log, a spoon of honey and a pinch of white pepper.
The nose is sweet and smoky, with orchard fruit, vanilla and a little honey, then a hint of spice and a faint oak. It smells warm, round and rather inviting, with the smoke sitting comfortably alongside the fruit.
On the palate it is smooth and fruity, with honey, apple and gentle smoke, then a little spice, a hint of vanilla and a soft oak. The 46% gives it real body, and the texture is silky and a little oily. The peat is calm and sweet, and the fruit is generous.
The finish is medium to long, with smoke, oak and a lingering sweetness. It is warm, clean and very satisfying.
A few drops of water bring out the pear and soften the smoke, and I think it is better for it. It also gets sweeter as it sits, and the honey comes forward. At 46% it takes water well, and a patient pour pays off.
Neat, with a few drops of water, or on a single cube. It is a very good sipper and a lovely first smoky malt for somebody who likes fruit. It makes a lively Old Fashioned, where the smoke and the pear are a rather good pair.
It goes well with smoked fish, a mild cheese and a cold evening. It is a good gift for somebody who likes a gentle smoke and does not want to be hit by it.
At about £45 it scores 76. BenRiach The Original Ten scores 77 at about £41, which is a point better for £4 less. Highland Park 10 Viking Scars scores 76 at about £35. Bowmore 12 scores 70 at about £38, and Ardbeg 10 scores 72 at about £45.
So the Smoky Ten is a very good smoky malt at a fair price. It beats the Bowmore and the Ardbeg 10 on my scale by four to six points, and it ties the Highland Park for £10 more. The Original Ten is the slightly better buy, and I would be happy with either.
Speyside is famous for sweet, fruity, unpeated whisky, and a peated malt from the region is something of a surprise. BenRiach has made it a speciality, and the Smoky Ten is the most accessible example. The peat is softer and sweeter than Islay’s, and it sits comfortably alongside the orchard fruit.
That makes the bottle a good bridge. A drinker who likes Speyside can taste smoke without leaving home, and a drinker who loves smoke can see how many shapes it takes. I think it is one of the more successful experiments in the region.
Four more bottles, from the better buys to the other gentle smokers.
The lightly peated three-cask sibling, a point higher for £4 less.
A honeyed, lightly smoky malt that ties it for £10 less.
A bold, complex Islay malt that scores four points lower for the same money.
A balanced, lightly smoky Islay malt that scores six points lower for £7 less.
BenRiach The Smoky Ten is sweet, fruity, gently smoky and very well balanced, a peated Speyside malt with real charm. It is a good bottle at a fair price, and the Original Ten is a hair better.
Caskable score: 76 out of 100.
Sweet smoke, orchard fruit and vanilla
Fruity and smoky, with honey, spice and soft oak
Medium to long, with smoke, oak and a lingering sweetness
A sweet, gently smoky Speyside malt with real depth at a fair price.
Thomas Grønvold is the founder of Caskable and a whisky enthusiast who believes the best way to learn about whisky is simply to drink it, compare it, and stay curious. From supermarket favourites to bottles from distilleries around the world, he writes about what he actually tastes and experiences, without pretending you need to be an expert to enjoy a good dram.
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