Sales director Alistair Walker pulls of a big smile as the BenRiach Distillery Company is celebrating their win of ten top awards in the prestigious 2009 International Wine and Spirits Competition this week.
In results published today this Thursday, the company entered 10 whiskies from both its BenRiach and GlenDronach brands, and won 10 medals – 1 Gold, 8 Silver and 1 Bronze.
GlenDronach has four expressions and all four won medals including a Gold and Best in Class for its 15 year-old ‘Revival’ while BenRiach won a further six awards including two Silver and Best in Class.
BenRiach and GlenDronach scotch single malts awards were:
GlenDronach Medals
Gold Best in Class GlenDronach 15YO ‘Revival’
Silver Best in Class GlenDronach 33YO
Silver GlenDronach 12YO Original (new 2009 version)
Silver GlenDronach 18YO Allardice
BenRiach Medals
Silver Best in Class BenRiach ‘Maderensis Fumosus’ 13YO Peated / Madeira Finish
Silver Best in Class BenRiach 16YO
Silver BenRiach 12YO
Silver BenRiach ‘Curiositas’ 10YO Peated
Silver BenRiach ‘Authenticus’ 21YO Peated
Bronze BenRiach 15YO Dark Rum Finish
The judges’ Tasting Notes for the GlenDronach 15 year old “Revival” commented: “Great concentration of complex aromas on the nose including treacle toffee, chocolate, orange, toasted nuts and vanilla. Great depth in the mouth, with all the nose promised, plus some Demerara sugar, sweet malt and lots of toast. Great balance with firm tightness which is offset to a degree by lots of mellow notes. Long finish has distinct gingery note.”
Managing Director Billy Walker said: “We are absolutely delighted that ten of our expressions have been recognised at such a prestigious competition. The award reflects the incredibly hard work of our team and underscores the outstanding quality of our two brands.”
The company has won a number of awards in recent years. In February this year the BenRiach Distillery beat off competition from around the world to win the coveted “Icons of Whisky” award in London.
BenRiach was also “Distillery of the Year” in the 2007 Malt Advocate Magazine Whisky Awards.
Whisky Magazine named it the “Best Rare Speyside” (for BenRiach Authenticus 21 Year Old) at its World Whisky Awards, also in 2007.
And it won Gold Medal (for BenRiach 16 year old) at the 2006 International Wines and Spirits Competition.
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Last month we ran a competition on Whiskygrotto.com. The purpose was to increase the commenting on the posts. Traffic on Whiskygrotto.com is quite high, but it’s a quite traffic. So, a bottle of Auchentoshan, sponsored by the same awaited the top commentator and community poster.
The winner was Matt Henry from Arizona, USA under the nickname orangedogofglory. And in thought since Matt showed some passion Whisky I’d make a short interview with him. Here it goes:
Self portrait by the winner himself
1. Name & location
Matt Henry, Arizona, USA.
2. Why did you get into liking whisky?
My interest in whisky actually began with dumb luck. The long and short
of it boils down to, oddly enough, my winning a bottle of Johnnie Walker
Black. I made a bet with a friend of mine over March Madness brackets. My
bracket vastly outperformed his (of course), so he bought me a bottle.
3. Do you remember your first taste?
I remember the taste – not so much the original flavors. Although that
being said I do have some of that original bottle left, so I could revisit
it. I remember my impression being one of surprise, and my first thought
was “this is the next step after rum.” And that is meant with no slight to
rum – it just seemed to me that whisky was the progression in proper fit for
my palate.
4. What’s your top 3 list of whiskies?
My top three whiskies, by distillery, would be Balvenie, Laphroaig, and
Highland Park. Although Talisker would be a very close fourth. For
specific bottles, I would probably have to differentiate between regularly
available and affordable bottles, and rare and expensive bottles. [click to continue…]
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Dear visitors. It gives me great pleasure to present the winner of the August Comment and Community Challenge 2008 – Orangedotofglory aka Matthew Henry.
Matthew wins the prize because of the way he’s actively has kept the community alive as well as posted relevant comments over the last month. It was not an easy decision as some of you has almost been contributing with as much content as Matthew.
I would like to thank Auchentoshan for providing the prize and hope to come back with a new competition soon. Until then I hope the comments and posts in the community doesn’t dissapear. It’s you visitors who make the Whiskygrotto.com come alive.
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I wrote the other day about the launch of Auchentoshan.com. I’d just like to push for their competition a little bit more. The prize should definitely be something for you whisky-lovers out there.
To celebrate the launch of their revamped online presence, visitors to the new Auchentoshan.com are being offered the opportunity to win a rare bottle of Auchentoshan 1957 – one of only 144 hand-numbered bottles in the world.
The competition to win a limited edition bottle of Auchentoshan 50 year old worth £2,500 will appear online until October. Bottled at cask strength 49.1%, the exclusive vintage from a Spanish Oloroso sherry cask has been matured at the lowland distillery warehouse in Dumbartonshire on the outskirts of Glasgow.
The whisky has a light fragrance of eucalyptus followed by a butterscotch and treacle sweetness. A splash of water brings out an aroma of ripe soft fruit and fresh green apples. Mild mint combines with sweet light treacle and dark chocolate on the palate, providing a silky smooth and deliciously complex finish.
So, head over there and WIN!
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