Another Ben-Nevis-thon, part 1


June 27, 2023

Another Ben-Nevis-thon, part 1

One of the joys of Ben Nevis is that while it's one the very best malt whiskies in the world, it's currently widely available, especially from the best indies. Plus the fact that it may stand the whackiest finishings and that's it's not even afraid of zinfandel or shiraz/syrah. Not to mention new, or dechar-rechar American oak. Brave, brave Ben Nevis! Good, first, let's get rid of a bizarrely named NAS OB, as the apéritif… Core-less, really?

Ben Nevis 'Coire Leis' (46%, OB, +/-2022)

Nice story about some rocks around the distillery, not to mention waters and springs, but it's still only NAS. Shall we call it an access-Ben-Nevis bottling? Colour: pale white wine. Nose: big on porridge, mash and pears, plus dough, leek, eggplant, fennel, soot and mead. Some vanilla too. Feels really young and probably cleaner than your 'average' BN. Mouth: very good maltiness, with burnt herbs, burnt honey, then Ovaltine, then dried fruits and burnt fruit tartes. Some sweet peppers and some mustard too, this is well Ben Nevis, probably boosted with some rather active wood. Finish: long, rather rich, full of toffee and Ovaltine. Malty beer, spicy liquid caramel, cardamom… Comments: not much to add, this modern, extractive, boosted version of Ben Nevis works very well, it's even got a Japanese side (how surprising). By the way, did you ever read Compton Mckenzie's novel "Ben Nevis goes East"? Nah it's got nothing to do with whisky...
SGP:551 - 82 points.

Ben Nevis 10 yo 2012/2023 (48.5%, Decadent Drinks, Equinox & Solstice, refill hogshead)

Refill wood! Colour: pale white wine. Nose: more austere, less boosted, more elegant, more on greases, porridge, mud, paraffin, I was about to write it is 'more Ben Nevis'. Mouth: still a bit young on the nose but perfect on the palate, close to that-other-lovely-distillery-down-in-Campbeltown, in the style of the latest LB if that rings a bell. Perfect peppers, wax, oils, clay, whelks, perhaps even smoked eel, a teaspoon of seawater, a drop of concentrated lemon juice, some earth… Finish: long, absolutely perfect, coastal style major, one of Scotland's aces. Comments: I've seen the bottlers wrote that it was 'simple'. I beg to disagree! Bordering excellence at only ten. Do double-magnums.
SGP:452 - 88 points.

Ben Nevis 9 yo 2012/2022 (52.4%, Morisco Spirits, Marble Collection, cask #1660, 260 bottles)

Colour: pale white wine. Nose: in the style of the Decadent one, obviously, just a tad hotter and, consequently, a little less elegant. With water: ah, mud, fruit peel and paraffin, plus chalk and grist. Everything we like. Mouth (neat): a tad maltier, with more coffee… With water: perfect, once again just a tad more 'active', somewhat a 'sweeter and rounder', but we're splitting hairs once more. It is, obviously, a very lovely young Ben Nevis. Finish: long, still a tiny bit fattish, but we should not care. Paraffin, grapefruit, seawater, pepper, chalk, drop of mocha (so oak more active indeed)… Comments: another one that's dazzling at not even 10.
SGP:552 - 87 points.

This is not good for our list. We used to have a wonderful top-quartet with HP, Clynelish, Ben Nevis and Springbank from north to south, but since many are now bottled by the indies as 'Secret' ones, the ones that are not (yet?) are rising to the top. Ben Nevis, #1? Could happen anytime if you ask me… And hey, what's the value of an unsigned Picasso?

Ben Nevis 8 yo 2013/2022 (48%, The Single Malts of Scotland, Reserve Cask for Kirsch Import)

From 3 casks, no less. Colour: gold. Nose: touches of fudge, nougat and aniseed/pastis, cut grass, mint leaves, coriander… Then paraffin, new boots, grist, chalk, drop of wine vinegar… Mouth: oranges this time! Plus all the rest, wax, oils, paraffin, porridge, pepper, polish… And indeed, triple-sec. That's wonderful and 'different'. They must have poured a few bottles of Grand-Marnier when they were doing this vatting. Of course they are going to deny all this. Finish: this one's a little bit sweeter, but it's still full of Ben-Nevisness. Citron liqueur and clementines in the aftertaste. Comments: this one takes you to Corsica. Altitude very high, once more. Excuse me? Ah, it was Cointreau!
SGP:651 - 87 points.

Ben Nevis 8 yo 2014/2022 (54%, Chapter 7, bourbon barrel, cask #543, 267 bottles)

Colour: pale white wine. Nose: back to an austere, grassier style. Cactus, silverware, paraffin, 'peat', chalk, seawater, oyster shells… Did they tweak the stills in 2014? Towards Islay? Or did this baby spend some time in an ex-Laphy cask? With water: mud, draft, more paraffin, rubber… Mouth (neat): peat indeed! I think they did some peated batches, did they not? I find it a tad geraniumy, leafy, with something that reminds me of peated Glenturret, in some way. Not too sure, really not too sure… With water: nicer, fresher. Salty seaweed, oysters, pepper; smoke… Finish: rather long, on 'smoked peppers'. Comments: very good, but pretty un-Ben-Nevis. A variant, I would suppose, reserveless congrats for having bottled this. I mean, Ben Nevis al natural is so good that you just cannot improve it. No? For research, thank you Chapter 7.
SGP:464 - 82 points.

How about a little wine and a blood-tub? The smallest casks I've ever seen used, real leaking nightmares but some results have been stupendous, especially with Port Charlotte.

Ben Nevis 8 yo (57.1%, Dram Mor, 2nd-fill Madeira blood-tub, cask #1092, 2022)

I believe it was 'only' a finishing, which explains why the number of bottles, after 8 years, isn't equal to… zero. Colour: amber. Nose: mud, walnuts, humus, moss, mushroom, metal polish, clutch grease (new descriptor on WF!), mustard and bitter oranges… With water: old coins, copper, cured ham (say Parma), exhaust fumes… Mouth (neat): extremely thick and rich, to be honest a little deviant, with massive amounts of cardamom and 'unknown curries', chestnut honey, Jägermeister, pine resin, walnut wine… With water: we kind of tamed it but I'm not sure Ben Nevis is still in control, not even sure it ever was. I would call this 'The Mad Cask Series'. Finish: very long, very leafy. Comments: tough baby. Not too sure what to say. Anyway, it was only a wee experiment – and rascal casks 'blood-tubs' can be bastards indeed.
SGP:372 - 78 points.

Perhaps one older one, to give you an idea of what's coming next. Eenie weenie…

Ben Nevis 23 yo 1998/2022 (54.1%, Nanyang Whisky & Rejo Beverages, The Peninsula Collection, Singapore, hogshead, cask #662, 207 bottles)

A very lovely bottle. I hope you could effortlessly remove the label and frame it once the bottle is empty. Or, even better, before the bottle's empty (and stained)… Colour: straw. Nose: Ben Nevis in its purest form. No time to waste in conjectures, it is unquestionable. Soot, tangerine liqueur, olives, paraffin (but there's always paraffin in BN), porridge, pine needles, new sneakers, dirty mud… With water: empty oil barrels, turpentine, almonds, fumes, stearin, kippers (indeed)… Mouth (neat): these vintages, say 1995-1999, were just amazingly dirty, petroly, salty, very waxy, and pretty untameable. This is another perfect example. It really is a little dirty. Stale pepper. With water: chalk and orange zests. Not the most common combination, but it works greatly. Bitter almonds. Finish: long and leafier. Green tea and tobacco. Salty leaves. Comments: maybe it lost a bit of clearness and became a little leafy in the end, but we'll sure break the 90-barrier right tomorrow, stay tuned.
SGP:372 - 87 points.

Check the index of all Ben Nevis we've tasted so far