Tasting Ben Nevis (finally!)

I do not think that I've ever had a Ben Nevis-only tasting. A distillery that has a mixed reputation, and I knwo there are both great and not so great ones around, the first category usually involving older bottlings. I'm skeptical of putting such a branding on whiskies as it seems everything was better in the old days, these days. Anyway, here it goes, a session I've been looking forward to with excitement and curiosity for a while.


Ben Nevis 10yo 1986-1996 46% OB

I do like the idea of putting a vintage on younger bottlings as its easy to track which vintages are worth seeking out. On the other hand, with a vintage I do assume there is no older stock involved in the vat. The color is golden, obviously adjusted with caramel. It smells very peaty, Ardmore style, sweet, biscuits, honey, white wine, coffee, banana peel, cherries, malt syrup, soy sauce, sherry, surely some sherry wood in the mix here. So far it is one of the best 10yo OB's I've had. The taste is licorice, cinnamon, cloves, cherries again, grape seeds, cumin, very good young Ben Nevis. The finish is peppery, red paprika, sun-dried tomatoes, great stuff!

Hopefully this is the standard todays Ben Nevis' follows: 7.5


Ben Nevis NAS 1996 46% Robert Graham Dancing Stag

Robert Graham is a small online whisky retailer, selling on ebay and from his own small web-shop. It has some interesting bottles and the prices aren't too bad. He has bottled an Allt-'A-Bhainne which has was very good a couple years back if I remember correctly. This one is has the color of grey tea, special. It smells peaty and peppery, much cleaner and simpler than the 1986. The taste is sweet, plums and caramel. But most of all there's a lot of peat, reminds me a bit of Laphroaig peat. Of course it lacks the iodine and coastal stuff, but this sweetness goes very well with peat too. Really sweet and fresh, vanilla, mint, peat, very good.

Another style than the 1986, but very good in its own right: 7


Ben Nevis 20yo 1992-2002 56.2% Cadenhead's

From a bourbon hogshead, so there will be no sherry notes in this one, well, there could be, but it wouldn't come from the wood then. This one has the pale color of white wine. It smells creamy, spirity, vodka, sawdust, oak, malt beer, eraser, nice, but hardly complex. The taste is extremely peppery and spirity, almost a bit hard to enjoy, and definitively hard to spot any peaty notes, or any other good stuff, here. Perhaps a small drop of water will improve it. Now it gets a bit better, some lime and tonic bitter notes, but most of all it is a spirity whisky.

I'd rather stay away from this one: 2.5


Ben Nevis 13yo 1977-1991 62% Cadenhead's

So, bottled one year before the distillation of the very disappointing 1992. Well, as I've already mentioned older Ben Nevis are often rated way higher than newer ones, but so is the case with just about any distillery in Scotland, it seems. This ought to be a gift then. The color is that of green tea, with lots of cask sediments. It smells peaty, iodine, burnt wood, salty ham, parmesano cheese, this one is by far the most rustic in this otherwise very rustic session. One could only imagine if they did some SC/CS work at Ben Nevis. This one reminds me a bit of some older ports on the nose. The taste is as peaty as it gets, hard to follow, peppery, pickles, garlic, raw onions, needs a bit of water. Now it turns more bitter, agricultures, bitter leaves, rhubarb, grainy, not my favorite. Seems Ben Nevis pairs best with sherry wood.

A nose I'd enjoy for hours, the taste I'd be done with in seconds: 4



Next tasting: Glenmorangie Distillery