The second one for today is a Ben Nevis 1996 bottled by Douglas Laing as a festive bottling for Germany. That said, Douglas Laing did also another festive bottling for Germany last year, which was a 18 year old Blair Athol matured in a sherry butt.

Facts

Name:	Ben Nevis 1996
Bottler:	Douglas Laing
Bottling series:	Old Particular
Distilled:	November 1996
Bottled:	October 2015
Age:	18 Years Old
Category:	Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery:	Ben Nevis
Cask Type:	Refill Butt
Cask No.:	DL 10884
Strength:	48.4% Vol.
No. of bottles:	354
Colored:	No
Chill Filtered:	No

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)