Whisky Focus - BenRiach Solstice BenRiach Horizon Two New Winter Warmers

It's the winter solstice today December 21st, so it's serendipitous that BenRiach is launching two exciting new products bearing these inspirational names.

Launched on the shortest day of the year, BenRiach Solstice, with its connotations of re-birth and celebration, is a perfect malt for the midwinter, a 15 year-old heavily peated port while BenRiach Horizons is a 12 year old triple distilled malt - a new and original product line which has never been done before by BenRiach.

The bottling strength for both 70cl bottles is 50%. Both are cased in a rigid gift box and a limited quantity is available worldwide.

Marketing Manager Kerry White explained: "These are two incredibly exciting new products to be savoured on cold winter nights.

"Unusually for a Speyside distillery, we distil whisky from both styles of malted barley, non-peated and peated, enabling us to capture the defining taste and aroma of peat reek in a few special bottlings.

"BenRiach Solstice is one such expression. Distilled from heavily-peated malted barley, the whisky has been matured in ex-bourbon barrels before being finished in Aged Tawny Port pipes sourced from Portugal's Douro region. The overall maturation period, across both styles of wood, is a minimum of 15 years.

"Horizons, the 12 year old triple distilled BenRiach, is one of the most unique whiskies to be released by the distillery. Traditionally, most single malt whiskies are distilled twice, but during the late 1990s BenRiach experimented with some limited production runs of triple-distilled whisky, and we have allowed the whisky to mature for a minimum of 12 years before giving you the opportunity to sample the fruits of our labour."

Kerry added: "Triple distilled means the raw spirit produced comes off the still at a higher alcohol strength, and the whisky is more fruity and floral than a traditional double-distilled BenRiach - quite different in character, and certainly a rarity amongst single malt whiskies.

"Originally matured in ex-bourbon barrels, the triple distilled BenRiach has been allowed to finish in Oloroso Sherry casks, and has derived a number of distinctive flavours and aromas specific to the sherry casks."
 

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