Origin: Highlands (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 56.2%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Bourbon Hogshead
Chillfiltered: No
Additional Coloring: No
Owner: J & A Mitchell & Co Ltd.
Average price: € 125.00
Official website: www.cadenhead.scot
Vote: 90/100
Every time we propose on this blog a bottling of Ben Nevis, the views splash upwards, indicating a very lively interest in this distillery.
Well-deserved interest, it must be said, given the always high quality of the whiskies, almost always made by independent bottlers since the distillery is very gaunt of its own.
Distillate of 1996, bottled at the end of 2017 for the Authentic Collection, cask strength and from a single ex-Bourbon barrel, which produced 240 bottles still available.
Tasting notes
Straw yellow in the glass.
Erica and gentian caress a delicately sweet bouquet with crunchy apple, pineapple, yellow plum, vanilla, sugar paste, pine nuts, beeswax, lemon drop. Green tea. Summer aromas, caressing but consistent, with a breath of freshness that refreshes and the mineral base notes that clean the aromas.
A warm and invigorating sun radiates on spicy touches of ginger and anise that flow oily in the mouth, accompanying fruits (apple, peach, pineapple, green melon), marzipan, vanilla, honey, licorice root, nuts. Hawthorn. A saline appearance grows, not very marked, a savory influence with bitter tips of rhubarb that cleans the mouth and prepare for the next sip.
Long and savory finish of peach, beeswax, sugar paste, vanilla, nuts.
It’s almost embarrassing to have to talk about Ben Nevis’ independent bottling, there isn’t one that doesn’t reach excellence, with the same ten years of the distillery demonstrating truly extraordinary basic quality.
At the risk of putting the supply of barrels in difficulty, if you see Ben Nevis on a bottle, buy it with your eyes closed, there is really no risk of having a whisky that isn’t at least excellent!