Some things just go better together. Bacon and eggs. Gin and tonic. KC and The Sunshine Band.

When people ask what to pair with whisky we always say ‘good friends’. While we generally take our whisky neat there is one combination that is equal to the classic pairings above. Whisky and beer. Sip for sip between a fine whisky and a well matched brew. The best of both worlds. The legendary boilermaker.

Our friends at Benriach Distillery and Akasha Brewing have put together a boilermaker of our own for you all to enjoy.

First the whisky. Benriach is a rare Speyside distillery that still use their own floor maltings for some releases and also produce both peated and unpeated spirit as part of their core range. As a sister distillery to Glendronach they also have access to phenomenal sherry casks.

Our whisky has been drawn from a single Pedro Ximénez cask and bottled at natural cask strength. The standout characteristic of this whisky is a chewy thickness that can be seen in the floccing apparent in some bottles. Don’t be scared by the cloudiness. It brings a lovely creaminess to the palate which you don’t get from most whiskies. The nose features raisins and dates but this isn’t a typical sherry bomb by any stretch. The palate is fruity with honey stewed green apples and there is a confectionary note of strawberries and cream lollies that hangs around right until the end. A sensational Speyside PX dram.

We shared our whisky with our mates at Akasha and let them decide on the perfect beer to go with it. They started by taking ex-vintage port casks from Piggs Peake Winery in the Hunter Valley and further seasoning them with litres of Benriach Classic Ten. These were then filled with a barleywine and allowed to rest until ready.

The result?

Big Bold Ben - a 10.5% ABV barrel aged barleywine full of fruit, honey and caramel sweetness. A brew that stands up to a full flavoured cask strength whisky.

Some things just go better together.

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