BenRiach Dram Mor 10 Year Old Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky 70 cl 55.5%

One hundred and ninety-nine bottles. That is what came out of the one cask Dràm Mòr bought, and it is enough to fill a single shelf in a single shop. Scottish micro bottlers work at that scale, and it is their entire reason for existing.

The expert's description

BenRiach Dràm Mòr 10 years PX Finish is a Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky finished in a 1st fill PX sherry hogshead and bottled at 55.5 % without chill filtration and without added colour.

Dràm Mòr is a small Scottish bottling house run by Viktorija and Kenny Macdonald from Glasgow. They buy single casks, often give them a finishing period in selected wood and bottle them at cask strength without adjustments. This cask gave 199 bottles.

The finish in first fill PX is short enough that the fruity character of BenRiach still fills the glass. It is a different approach from long sherry maturation, and the result reads cleaner and fruitier than a PX cask normally suggests.

Tasting notes

Nose

Like a Sunday at Christmas with an assortment of chocolate treats, where the marshmallows carry a small hint of dark liquorice.

Palate

Fruitier and cleaner than you would expect from a BenRiach with a PX finish. The sweetness is there, but it sits beneath the fruit rather than on top of it.

Finish

Remarkable, with impressive length and character that hangs on and extends the pleasure.

Specifications

Name: BenRiach Dràm Mòr 10 år PX Finish
Distillery: BenRiach
Bottler: Dràm Mòr
Region/Country: Speyside, Scotland
Type: Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 10 years
ABV: 55,5 %
Size: 70 CL
Cask type: Finished in a 1st fill PX sherry hogshead
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Natural colour: Yes
Number of bottles: 199
Edition: Strictly Limited

Flavour profile

Fruity · Chocolate · Cask strength · Sherry matured · Long

Investment potential

High. One hundred and ninety-nine bottles is a very small outturn even by single cask standards, and Dràm Mòr releases rarely stay on the shelf. The cask cannot be recreated.

Did you know?

Dràm Mòr means big dram in Gaelic. The house was started in 2020 by a married couple, she from Lithuania and he from Scotland, and they still bottle everything themselves in small parcels.

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Frequently asked questions about BenRiach Dràm Mòr 10 years PX Finish

What is the difference between a finish and full maturation?

A finish is a shorter period in a second cask at the end, typically from a few months to a couple of years. Full maturation means the whisky lay in the same cask type the whole way. Here the PX cask was used as the finish.

Why only 199 bottles?

Because that is what the hogshead gave. A hogshead holds around 250 litres, and after ten years of evaporation and bottling at cask strength you typically land in that range.

Who are Dràm Mòr?

A small Scottish bottling house from Glasgow, run by Viktorija and Kenny Macdonald since 2020. They buy single casks, often finish them in selected wood and bottle at cask strength.

Is PX not always very sweet?

First fill PX can be, but here the cask was used as a shorter finish. The sweetness comes along without taking over, and the result is fruitier than a fully PX matured whisky.

How is it best drunk?

Neat first in a whisky glass, then with a couple of drops of water if you want to open the fruit. At 55.5 per cent it has the power to take both.

Is it worth keeping?

For the collector, yes. Under two hundred bottles from a house that has only existed since 2020 is a combination that will be hard to find again in a few years.