Facts

Nose

A lovely fruitiness of ripe yellow plums, very pleasant. Next come Pears, apricots, tangerine peels and strawberry yogurt, rounded off by orange honey and vanilla beans. The alcohol is nicely integrated.

Taste

Sweet creamy, yet surprisingly rich and strong. Again apricots and yellow plums as well as peaches. Black pepper corns and oak, the light spiciness adds another layer of complexity. Gets dryer towards the end.

Finish

Medium. Spicy oak joined by apricots and peach tea.

Overall

A honest, yet somewhat untypical Ben Nevis with a great balance of fruit and oak. Needs time in the glass to open up.

Score: good but not exceptional (86 / 100)

Sample provided by whic.de

Facts

Nose

Kinda cheesy… no seriously, there is literally some sort of cheese upfront… maybe Parmesan? Then mashed bananas, hard caramel, raisins and slightly burnt vanilla crescents, followed by icing sugar and wholemeal flour.

Taste

Fruity, yet intense. Sweet malt, ginger, caramel and cooked bananas with nutmeg. Hints of oak.

Finish

Long and drying. Oak alongside some fruits. A bit of smoked cheese perhaps.

Overall

Maybe not the “classic” festive bottling I would expect, but very interesting and extremely tasty once you get used to cheese aroma.

Score: good but not exceptional (86 / 100)

Alright, the first one for today is a Ben Nevis 1995 bottled by Wilson & Morgan as part of their Barrel Selection bottling series.

Facts

Nose

Sticky and sweet with lots of maraschino cherries, tropical fruits and oranges. Soft caramel and honeyed raisins. Maybe a tiny bit of smoke, too.

Taste

Intense, the high strength is definitely notable now. At first rather sour with grapefruit and sour cherries, but it gets spicy and woody pretty quickly. Some dried tea leaves appear towards the end.

Finish

Medium, peppery and a bit fruity.

Overall

A really exciting and engaging nose, but the rest is a bit of a let down.

Score: good but not exceptional (83 / 100)

1972 — Just think about it: The Watergate scandal. The Godfather is released in cinemas (one of my all-time favorite movies!). West Germany beats the Soviet Union to win the Euro. I mean, this whisky was distilled 15 years before I was born! Tasting such an old whisky is like traveling back in time, or at least it is for me.

Facts

Nose

Sweet and syrupy. Something between rum molasses and rum pot. Fruity notes of dark berries, cocktail cherries and overripe kiwis. A few milled nuts.

Taste

Syrupy and fruity. Cherry syrup. Bitter citrus fruits and dark chocolate. Dried herb mix, alongside milk chocolate and dried tobacco leaves. Hints of herb liqueur and tea. Maybe some oak, but not a lot.

Finish

Long with a bitter dryness. Dark chocolate, sweet tobacco and cherries with cinnamon.

Overall

By far not as complex and deep as expected, but very palatable and definitely not overaged. That being said, I had already younger Ben Nevis more to my liking. Older doesn’t always mean better, I guess.

Score: very good and highly recommended (87 / 100)

Although this is my very first review of a Ben Nevis, I tried quite a few (around a dozen or so) of them this year. But that was always on fairs or in my pub of choice so I wasn’t able to write down notes. And I don’t really know what it is, but this distillery made a lasting impression on me.

It is therefore surprising how little attention Ben Nevis gets among ‘the average’ single malt aficionado. To be fair, Ben Nevis doesn’t release a lot of bottlings and the ones they release (apart from their 10 years old standard expression), are often very price intense. But that has to do with their low production (1.5M liters per year) and the fact that a third of the newmake is sent directly to Japan for the owner’s (Nikka) blends. Which means that there is not much old stock laying around in the warehouse.

Lucky for us that there are quite a few (often very affordable) independent bottlings available.

Facts

Ben Nevis 1991 (Signatory Vintage ‘The Un-Chillfiltered Collection’)

Nose

The sherry oak influence is noticeable right off the bat. Honey pastries with powdered sugar, almonds, hazelnuts – maybe even some nut cake? Dried fruits, but hard to tell which ones. Followed by cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.

Taste

Oily and unexpected strong. Again a lot of sherry, the oak is more pronounced now. Hints of floral honey and salt. Ends with brown sugar.

Finish 

Long and strong with a light fruitiness. Ginger and a bit of oak.

Overall

Robust and complex, even a bit maverick if you will – a text book example of  a great Ben Nevis.

Score: 92 / 100