Tasting 5 Ben Nevis

I'm sorry for the crappy photo, what showing the bottles are concerned. I promise to do better next time. Five different whiskies from Ben Nevis, a whisky that's harder and harder to obtain in europe, for two reasons I think. Japanese owners who uses much of the malt for own blending and selling on eastern markets. The rest goes into blends such as Long John and Dew of Ben Nevis. The distillery has a 10yo standard.













Ben Nevis 8yo 1990-1999 43% Signatory Vintage cask#1376 btl.18/1480

A youngster from a sherry butt, not often you single sherry casks bottled at this age and strength combined. Perhaps its a bit off the radar as to what whiskies are primarily desired by the customers these days (or back then as this was). The color is hazy golden. It smells floral and peaty, Bladnoch? fresh, coriander, lemon straw, grassy, peppery, lemon zest, window spray. Sort of soapy and balsamic. The taste is drying, oaky and peppery, some heather and red peppers, biscuits, corn flour, very peppery. Some hints of sherried notes can be found in the background, and the drying earthy notes are like a breath of fresh air in this otherwise oaky and peppery little devil. A small drop of added water makes this more herbal, grassy, austere, coriander again. I do not recommend adding water to this one.(but that's just a personal opinion)

The sherry struggles making an influence on this one: 3.5


Ben Nevis 22yo 46% Cadenhead's

Old dumpy bottling from Cadenhead's. I have often wondered why many of the whiskies in this series weren't bottled at CS, maybe they needed some additional water to shine? The color is amber brown. It smells dry, rich, leather, cigars, chili, bonfire, peppery. The taste is sweet, peppery, very dry, oaky, hay, chalkdust, cigars, very peppery, mustard. Apple vinegar and black pepper on the finish. A bit of water makes it sweeter, dry port, apple tart, grape juice, wild berries, blackberries, blackcurrant and wild strawberries. Amazing stuff.

Another great one from Cadenhead's: 7.5


Ben Nevis 26yo 1974-2000 56.4% OB cask#2895

A rare older OB by the distillery, from a hogshead. Bottled when Nikka started up the distillery again, and possibly bottled to create a bit of fuzz about the distillery's relaunch. Amber color. Smells sweet, toffee, caramel, hot chocolate, coffee beans, mint julep, sweet tea. Modest and nice I'd say, a sweet treat, the strength doesn't show off on the nose. The taste follows it up, sweet toffee and caramel, milk chocolate, mint leaves, creamy, but the aftertaste is recognizably peppery for this distillery. With a small addition of water it turns more zest, dry, bitter, vague honey notes, cough mixture, bourbon whisky, a total 180 degrees deflection when hitting water. I liked it best with no water added.

Good nose, very good palate, middle finish, then the water came: 6


Ben Nevis 37yo 1966-2003 48% Old Malt Cask Douglas Laing for Skorupa Germany

Old stuff, I've heard that older Ben Nevis can be a real treat, or usually it is, that means. I like my OMC-bottlings below 50%abv. at least then, I know they ar bottled at cask strength. The color is brown. It smells sherried, figs, red wine, sulphur, feta cheese, strawberries, apple vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes, cinnamon, cumin. The taste is all on berries and black pepper, drying, dark chocolate, licorice. Needs a bit of water I think. Now it turns sweeter, more berries, red berries, marshmallows, red bell peppers, cumquat, squash. A bit lighter and perhaps easier to get around to at this point, yet I prefer the more extreme dry sherry notes it displayed when bare.

Between this and the Cadenhead's, I guess this pulled the longest straw: 8


Ben Nevis 11yo 1992-2003 59.6% Blackadder Raw Cask cask#687

A youngster from a bourbon hogshead, should be a new twist in this session. A nice amount of cask sediments, which I enjoy a lot, in this one. Could suggest it comes from a well charred cask then. The color is white wine. It smells sweet, glue, vanilla, rum, onions, grassy, red onions, peppery. The taste is vanilla, nuts, stewed onions, glucose, peppery, bitter, extremely sweet. I do like it a lot. Zesty as well. This is a great Ben Nevis, very typical for Ben Nevis, that meaning peppery, but the sweet vanilla notes and other sweet treats in this one calls for a good mark I guess.

Concentrated on a lot of nice bourbony notes: 8



Next tasting: Tamdhu Distillery