Home Tasting: Bennevis 1996 17 Year Old Official Bottling for Alambic #1420of1996

A vibrant Bennevis that blew away my preconceptions. Bennevis BENNEVIS 1996-2013 17yo OB for ALAMBIC #1420of1996 50.2% ・Aroma: The aroma is very lively, with clear notes of peach juice, grapefruit and its pith, pear, lychee, vanilla. From the back comes plum, yellow flowers, a strong dry barley sensation, and a faint hay-like quality. ・Flavor: Despite its high ABV, the mouthfeel is gentle. It enters slightly light but expands into a richly aromatic profile. Like the aroma, it's vibrant and diverse with clear fruitiness - peach juice, pear, concentrated grapefruit, strong pineapple, a touch of spicy pepper. There's also a solid malty umami depth with sweetness that feels heavy and honey-like, adding weight. Mid-palate shows briny characteristics, followed by oiliness and a grainy quality reminiscent of cereal. Subtle paper-like astringency and oak/grassiness are detectable but enhance the depth. ・Aftertaste: The vibrant fruitiness and tannic oak notes linger with an oily texture. ・Water addition: The vibrant fruitiness becomes more pronounced, softening the weight. The youthful grassy notes increase slightly but the paper-like astringency becomes less noticeable. ・Overall: While I can detect Bennevis' characteristic oiliness, grainy qualities and faint paper-like astringency, these are completely overwhelmed by the exceptional vibrancy of its fruitiness. The whisky feels fresh and refined rather than the heavy, slightly coarse impression I previously associated with Bennevis. Recently, more Bennevis bottlings have been approachable and enjoyable, but this particular bottle's outstanding quality has shifted my focus entirely to its positive attributes. This experience seems to have dispelled my decade-long reservations about this distillery, which I had previously considered somewhat challenging. While I've always been able to enjoy most whiskies, it's pleasant to see my palate expanding further towards greater appreciation of malts. This is an official single cask Bennevis 1996, bottled for Alambic in Germany after 17 years of maturation. I had previously tasted it at Yurakucho and was deeply impressed, but ultimately decided against purchasing due to its high price. Fortunately, I recently had the opportunity to acquire it at a relatively lower cost (though still not inexpensive) and decided to purchase a bottle. As someone who had always considered Bennevis a challenging distillery, this was my first time buying a bottled expression. Upon opening it, I immediately recognized the same impression as at Yurakucho, which was reassuring. While I'll omit detailed analysis as it's similar to my previous review, the standout feature remains its vibrant, diverse fruitiness. While elements like paper-like astringency and bitterness are present, they're completely overshadowed by the enjoyable aspects. Revisiting this whisky has shown me that my previous perception of Bennevis as a heavy, oily whisky with intense fruitiness was somewhat simplistic. This particular bottling instead revealed freshness and refinement I hadn't expected.