First Impressions
BenRiach has always been one of the rare Speyside distilleries to run peated spirit through its stills, and The Smoky Ten — the peated counterpart to The Original Ten — shows just how distinctive Speyside smoke can be when given creative cask treatment. The nose alone tells you this isn't an Islay imitation: there's tropical fruit alongside the campfire.
Distillery & Heritage
Peated production at BenRiach dates back to the 1970s when the distillery used smoked malt to supply blends needing that character. Rachel Barrie's reimagined core range built The Smoky Ten on a three-cask recipe of bourbon barrels, Jamaican rum casks and toasted virgin oak — an unusual combination chosen specifically to amplify the fruit-forward qualities of BenRiach's peated spirit. The rum casks, in particular, are the secret weapon, layering tropical sweetness over the smoke.
Tasting Notes in Detail
The nose opens with campfire smoke, tropical fruit, vanilla, charred pineapple, brown sugar and a whisper of sea spray. The palate is sweet-smoky from the off — mango, banana and honey alongside toasted oak, gentle pepper and lingering peat. Bottled at 46% non-chill-filtered, it has noticeably more weight than The Original Ten. The finish is long, smoky-sweet, with tropical fruit and warm spice carrying through.
Verdict
A genuinely original peated whisky and one of the most interesting Speyside smoke experiments on the market. If you want to taste what creative cask selection can do for peated spirit, start here. Excellent value alongside its unpeated sibling.
