The wonderful Benrinnes distillery is truly a special place. I was honored to tour the lovely little distillery and have quite a funny story about the people there that is not fit to print publicly, but it has endeared the whole operation to my heart forever. We kind of crashed without an appointment, and they took pity on us. The distillery manager was lovely, and we had a great tour. Anyway, I like the profile this distillery exhibits in almost any barrel. It's very approachable but loves a great sherry butt, yet I was shocked to find out this is the very first sherry butt we've ever done as an exclusive. What a treat. Let's dig in. The color is an attractive chestnut (1.2). The nose offers an explosion of sherry and malt, but it's not at all singular. I've let this rest for some time in the glass, and it continues to open extremely well. First nosing is nutty nougat, cherry jam, burnt sugar, freshly polished leather, dried apricots, gingerbread, and hints of dark earth spice to balance. On the palate, the creamy richness is undeniable, and the sweet and spicy characters are at war throughout - big Christmas spice up front, sweet red fruit through the middle, and complex herbs on the finish. The punchy character and rich texture beg for a drop or five of water, and indeed the addition, plus some extra air time, adds many layers. Somehow the nose becomes sweeter and darker, with a raisin-like resinous character emerging. The palate adds fudge, chocolate, and deep dried fruit, with an almost Szechuan pepper numbing character on the finish. It's just super pleasurable, interesting, and delicious. It's not a dark, tannic sherry bomb, yet it's still full of sherry character. The key here is the gorgeous oily texture and wild, lingering finish.