BENRINNES 2000 19YO - CADENHEAD IN THE COURTYARD

Time flies - its been 2 weeks since the last post :-O  - also keeping this a short one...

I recently opened the bottle which I'm about to review and I thought I'd let it breathe a bit before giving my opinion on it.... and yes, I know - it's another Benrinnes - but it's a good one!

This bottle was one a little more than a handful of expression available at the Cadenhead in the Courtyard event in September 2019 - a sort of a Cadenhead Open Day outside the one they usually share with Kilkerran during the Campbeltown Malt Festival in May

We were lucky with the weather too for this event back then and the Courtyard event itself combined with a few upstairs tastings and warehouse tasting made this a perfect day out! Add to that the opportunity to take away some bottlings exclusive to this event - what a treat!

Draff being dumped from Benrinnes on 3rd May 2010 © The Malt Desk

Benrinnes 2000 19yo 56,5%, 2 sherry hogsheads + 1 bourbon hogshead, 56,5%, Cadenhead in the Courtyard

Nose:
A slight alcohol nip at first, but then a clean fresh sherry style with rum raisins, cold coffee, milk chocolate, cough sweets, licorice root, and candied apple slices.
I do recognize this as a malt, but the moe inexperienced nose could easily mistake this for a rum, IMO

Taste:
For a second there, on arrival, this just gives an alcohol burn
This is chocolate and praline, a bit earthy style sherry here but still clean as a
whistle in its style, maybe a bit of that cough style camphor in here too?

Quite syrupy, but also a hint of some orangy notes peeping through mixed with coffee and strong tea. Somehow, I'm also getting the impression that this how a whisky/coffee/dark honey mix would taste like if not at cask strength like this one.

Great stuff, especially on the nose!
A real Winter Warmer!

89/100!