Benriach Concludes Malting Season Series With Fourth and Final Edition

• Speyside distillery, Benriach, released the fourth and final edition of its annual Malting Season release.
• The latest edition is crafted entirely from floor-malted concerto barley, hand-selected by Benriach’s master blender, Dr Rachel Barrie.
• It has been aged for 10 years in first-fill Bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks, making it the oldest in the collection.
• Benriach Malting Season Fourth Edition will be available exclusively during The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival (Wednesday 30 April – Monday 5 May) before becoming available globally in the coming months.

If you know one thing about Speyside distillery Benriach, it’s that in-house floor malting remains a vital part of its heritage. Even while production halted and distilling stopped from 1900 to 1965, Benriach continued to supply various neighbours with malted barley, Scotch whisky’s most important ingredient. Now, the distillery is back up and running on all cylinders, and it is still drawing upon the tradition they helped establish.

Being a commercial-sized operation, they source malt from external suppliers when necessary, but not so with their celebrated Malting Season series. This annual release is crafted exclusively from its own floor-malted concerto barley, making it the purest of possible expressions. The fourth and final edition has just been unveiled, and it’s promising to be the best one yet.

What is Floor Malting?

Floor malting is a centuries-old tradition whereby grain (namely barley) is steeped in water and then laid out in thin layers across a hard floor. Next, the wet grain is raked and turned as often as twice daily for aeration and germination. Once germinated, the grain is dried in a kiln, fermented, and distilled to produce whisky.

Formerly an industry-wide practice, floor malting was largely replaced by industrial methods starting in the 1960s. However, some distilleries still prefer to do things the old-school way. Whether or not it makes a tangible difference is up for debate, but there’s no arguing with the authenticity factor.

Benriach Malting Season Fourth Edition

A distillery like Benriach can only draw so much from its own supply of floor maltings to keep up with demand. Yet they do exactly that with the Malting Season series, which has been released on an annual basis, leading up to the fourth and final edition. It debuts at The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival (Wednesday 30 April to Monday 5 May) before officially hitting the shelves in the coming months.

Whereas Malting Season is already an acclaimed range, Benriach may have saved the best for last. Not only is the Fourth Edition crafted exclusively from floor-malted concerto barley, but it’s the oldest expression in the series and the first to feature an age statement.

Specifically, the whisky was aged for 10 years in first-fill Bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks, yielding a rich golden colour and a creamy but dense flavour profile. According to master blender Dr Rachel Barrie, the mastermind responsible for hand-selecting the grain from which the latest Malting Season was made, this new release represents the epitome of the collection.

“This fourth edition small batch release has a bottling strength of 47.9% ABV and is composed of 27 bourbon barrels and 4 oloroso sherry butts, distilled on 21st November 2012, 20th November 2013 and 19th December 2014,” Barrie said. “The fourth release is the most complex of all, with a richer, smoother and silkier mouthfeel with juicy baked peach and sweet apricot in crème caramel enriched with cinnamon and almond biscotti.”

We’re loyal fans of Benriach and certainly no strangers to Malting Season. The celebrated series will conclude with its fourth and final edition, which is being poured this very week at The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival. Bottles will hit the shelves for £110 thereafter, and we’ll pony up for one as soon as we get the chance. Here’s to doing things the hard way!

Benriach Malting Season Fourth Edition

• Brand: Benriach
• Release: Malting Season Fourth Edition
• ABV: 47.9%
• Barley Variety: Concerto
• Age: 10 years old
• Colour: Harvest gold.
• Nose: Barley sugar and chocolate honeycomb meld with caramel latte, sweet apricot and almond biscotti with a twist of orange peel.
• Palate: Crème caramel carries a burst of cinnamon poached apple and juicy baked peach into the smooth orange blossom honey and almond finish.
• Price: £110 (global markets may vary)