Lately, Dion is aiming for whiskies with a wine finish or maturing, so when we stumbled upon this beautiful looking Benriach bottle, finished in a Viña Ventisquero Grey Carmenere Barrel, we couldn’t resist.

Let’s be honest, normally Benriach is not my cup of tea, or dram of whisky if you like. The typical ‘Heart of Speyside’ character is somewhat unappealing in my eyes. Rather harsh.

May we suggest, approach this dram as a blind date. Don’t expect too much beforehand, don’t get distracted by it’s eye-pleasing appearance but slowly get to know each other characters. Don’t go in too deep just yet! It’s the first date remember..

After the first encounter, your patience will pay off, we promise you that. Sure, the basic character is still there, but results in a wonderful marriage due to the influence of the Viña Ventisquero.