Ben Nevis 8 yo 2012/2021 (53%, Dram Mor, cask #2084, white port finish, 102 bottles)
Not too sure about white port, but Dram Mor seem to be quite adept at these sorts of funny flash finishes. So, our mind hangs open like an abandoned fridge…  Colour: yellowish white wine. Nose: nothing against this, it's familiar Ben Nevis fatness and greasy quality, overlaid with yellow flowers, some white stone fruits and some lemon marmalade. With water: really getting in the DNA of the spirit now, lots of crushed greenery, vase water, concrete (perhaps from Ben Nevis' very own concrete fermenters? Yes, perhaps a stretch.) Also some nice, slightly sweetish breakfast cereal vibes. Mouth: again this is pretty typical youthful Ben Nevis with oils, stones, waxed cloth and things like ink and aspirin. There is a slight winey which presumably comes from the port, which isn't too much my style, but it's pretty well buried in the mix. With water: goes towards rather young apple distillate, grass, cactus, bamboo shoots and putty. Still a tad vinous as well. Finish: medium, a tad sappy and still this mix of young greener notes and more brutal Ben Nevis concrete! Comments: I don't think the port interfered too much here, in fact I rather think it got punched square on the jaw by this young brute of a Ben Nevis. 
SGP: 461 - 82 points. 

Ben Nevis 8 yo (57.9%, Dram Mor, cask #108, PX sherry hogshead finish, 328 bottles)
Ben Nevis and sherry usually go reasonably well together in my view. Colour: orangey amber. Nose: nicely juicy, sticky and sweet modern sherry profile. You can tell there's some newish oak in the mix but it isn't an aggressive component of this nose. Instead I find some nice cupboard spices such as clove and star anise, also sticky date loaf, ginger cake and leather tobacco pouch. There's even something suggesting medicines or phenols, like there was a glimmer of peat somewhere in the depths, which is really appealing. With water: BBQ sauce, charcoal and smoked paprika. Mouth: the oak comes calling much more assertively and directly now, probably too much for me I'm afraid, it's getting a tad 'tongue splintery'. Behind that some very bitter dark chocolate and many more dried cupboard spices. With water: sooty, spicy and leathery with more of these rather punchy tannins and wood spices. Finish: long, very spicy and on punchy herbal bitters and aniseed. Comments: this is too much wood for me I'm afraid. I actually preferred the slightly more naked white port finish. I wonder if these phenolic notes are really coming from wood the wood?
SGP: 372 - 81 points. 

Ben Nevis 8 yo 2012 (59.1%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society7 #8.52 'Jolly nice fruit and spice', 1st fill bourbon hogshead, 257 bottles)
Colour: bright straw. Nose: very typical modern, young Ben Nevis with this quite plush fat and waxy distillate profile, only here it's a little creamier and more rounded by the first fill hoggie. Some really lovely honeyed notes, flower nectars and some of these familiar wee touches of vase water and pebble notes. With water: honeys and waxes and even a hint of young sauternes. Really lovely stuff! Mouth: lovely, simple combination of orchard fruits and waxes upon arrival. Some cooking oils, some nice natural sweetness that once again involves honey and nectars and then impressions of putty, grassy olive oil and camphor. With water: shoe polish, richly waxy in texture, a creamy sweetness that never gets too much and in general a superb fatness of texture. Finish: good length, waxy still but getting more peppery and nicely drying. Comments: a humble but superbly fat and tasty young Ben Nevis. Also a rather smart first fill hoggie that never dominates the spirit. 
SGP: 461 - 87 points. 

Ben Nevis 21 yo 1999/2020 (52.7%, Nanyang Whisky, cask #255, hogshead, 139 bottles)
Nanyang whisky being a small indy outfit started by some whisky friends in Singapore. Colour: gold. Nose: a big mix of tree saps, flower nectars, heather honey and more delicate things like myrtle, lemongrass and, in time, a growing waxiness. A sort of halfway house between the 1996s and later vintages. I have to say, given time, this quickly evolves into a wax and honey tango that's extremely impressive. With water: getting wonderfully, yet subtly coastal now, with sandalwood and beach pebbles, a little chalk too, some lemon rind and yet more wonderful waxy notes. Mouth: lovely peppery attack, slight herbal and green bitterness, these nice delicate sappy notes once again, and then a really pure waxiness that very vividly recalls similar vintages of Clynelish. One for Serge's Axis of Wax, or Waxis of Minerality - whatever that emerging categorisation is called? There's also some lovely yellow and green fruits in the mix, syrupy fruit salad juices and the like. With water: again a little saltier and a little more coastal, which is just perfect as it brings a dimension of added freshness while still keeping these waxes and fruits in play. Finish: long, perfectly waxy, lemon, on fruit teas and even a few exotic touches too. Comments: hard to ask for more from a Ben Nevis of this pedigree. 
SGP: 562 - 90 points. 

Ben Nevis 23 yo 1998/2022 (54.1%, Nanyang Whisky, cask #662, hogshead, 207 bottles)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: ha! Much leaner and more mineral than the 99, on olive and mineral oils, sandalwood, crystallised honey, camphor and putty. This one goes more generally towards Ben Nevis' fatter and greasier side, which I'm not at all against. With water: brighter, more citric and again much more coastal, going towards some beautiful, bone-dry Manzanilla. Add to that some dried banana chips, ointments and dried herbs. Mouth: indeed, very mineral, nicely sharp, on lemon peel, putty, herbal teas, a much more brittle waxiness, stones, roast vegetables, soot, ink and camphor. A powerful and charismatic mature distillate profile, it just perhaps lacks some of the overt fruity glory of the 99. With water: big, bold, dry, peppery and superbly waxy whisky. Really a powerful and very 'old highlands' style that would probably be completely stunning with a couple of extra decades in glass! Finish: long, salty, peppery, bone dry and with a superbly powerful dry waxy note. Comments: excellent and perhaps even more singular and emphatic in character than the 99 in some ways, it's just that the 99 had such a devastatingly luscious quality about it that it makes this ones austerity a little exposed by comparison. But… but, as I said, 20 years in glass… 
SGP: 362 - 88 points. 

Ben Nevis 25 yo 1996/2022 (45.9%, The Good Spirits, cask #1377, hogshead, 190 bottles)
The Good Spirits are an excellent whisky shop in Hong Kong. Colour: bright straw. Nose: oh dear, a frankly gorgeous mix of ripe and also dried exotic fruits, white pepper, tiny coastal inflections, these typical waxy notes, overripe banana, wee camphory notes. Pitch perfect 1996 Ben Nevis in other words. And I would say this naturally easy ABV just makes it all the more approachable. Mouth: an immediately stunning fruitiness, that just seems to explode in the mouth. Backed up by a nervous, vibrant and perfect saltiness that keeps everything super tight and fresh. Not a single suggestion of tiredness at all, completely the opposite in fact. Dried mango, pollens, salted honey, all the usual suspects in other words! Finish: long, leathery and involving impressions of bone-dry Fino, green walnuts, waxed hessian, camphor and aged mead! A stunningly salty aftertaste as well. Comments: I'm going out on a limb and guessing that they have precisely zero bottles of this one left on the shelf. Just as well, because it is terrible! Me say definitely avoid! 
SGP: 462 - 91 points.

Ben Nevis 1996/2019 (49.7%, S Spirit Shop Selection, Taiwan, hogshead, cask #1435)
Colour: straw. Nose: soft waxes, yellow and green fruits, dried banana chips (which I seem to find quite often in these casks), dusty pollens and a lovely impression of high quality, peppery olive oil. Beautiful but it has a delicate quality about it which makes the whole feel a bit more subtle that the more overt and up front style of the Good Spirits bottling, for example. Mouth: easy, waxy and delicately sweet arrival that quickly ushers in these terrific peppery and salty notes, again going towards bon dry Fino and Manzanilla vibes, mustard powder, green peppercorns in brine and umami paste. There's also a slightly funky cider note arising too, with chalky notes, lemon rinds and that ever-present Ben Nevis waxiness. Finish: long, salty, mustardy, waxy and on that lovely grassy and peppery olive oil vibe once again. Comments: Another terrific 1996 Ben Nevis that speaks intermittently with an Irish and Spanish accent. Perhaps also by way of the old Banff distillery with these mustardy impressions?
SGP: 561 - 90 points. 

Ben Nevis 19 yo 1996/2016 (51.8%, OB, Private Cask, cask #1424)
This one carries a bit of a reputation already, probably no thanks to a certain Mr S V of Chateau WF, Turckheim… Colour: bright straw. Nose: this one is strikingly more medicinal up front, with the same familiar waxy power behind that, then crushed nettles and flints that recall Loire sauvignon, chalk, aspirin, petrol and artichokes in olive oil. There seems to be a level of distillate power here that's above and beyond indeed. Also white flowers, citrons and vase water that sit alongside these more industrial and mechanical characteristics, which only serves to elevate the overall feeling of complexity. With water: aniseed, verbena and overall a more medicinal and herbal side dominating now. Extremely mineral, pure and a sense of perfectly rounded distillate and totally silent, almost submissive wood (as it should be!). Mouth: pow! Stunningly, powerfully waxy, extremely mineral, salty, tense, pure and petrolic. On seawater, gherkins, waxed hessian, rapeseed oil, tiny background tarry notes, herbal ointments and beach pebbles. I'd also add salt-baked vegetables, green olives and squid ink. Powerful, almost brutalist whisky, but the level of distillate charisma is quite staggering. I'd also add that it feels rather different from many of the other 1996s, which may be down to the younger age, or just one of those mysteries of single cask variations. With water: immensely fat, pretty much clinically obese distillate! That waxiness is back in full force, resurges like the Red Army circa 1943! Finish: wonderfully long and dominated by a stunningly brittle and pure saltiness. Magnifique! Comments: I have to tell you, I agree with Serge on this one. If you love charismatic distillate driven whisky, this one really takes it to another level. 
SGP: 463 - 93 points. 

Ben Nevis 15 yo 1978/1993 (55.8%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #78.8, sherry)
Colour: deep reddish amber. Nose: excellent start, full of plummy dark fruits and generous aromas of date, sultana and quince, but all backed up by a firm, clean earthiness, peppery notes, damson jam, mirabelle eau de vie and further suggestions of plums - plum wine perhaps? Still, really lovely and still giving this impression of nicely fat Ben Nevis distillate at work despite the clear sherry influence. With water: gets more intricate and herbal now, things like earthy black teas, eucalyptus, yellow plum jam and fruity black coffee. Mouth: same feeling of fatness and richness, excellent earthy sherry once again, but with a more distinct gamey and leathery side now, still a lot of dark fruits but now with more spices such as clove and ginger, then also liquorice, marzipan and damp tobacco leaf. Very thick and rather superb I have to say! With water: still treads this nice balance between richly earthy and drying, with many dark fruits and jammy notes to counter that. Very big, very powerful sherried whisky, but manages to keep everything in check, somewhat miraculously. Finish: long, on treacle, dark fruits soaked in Armagnac, fir wood resins, pickled walnuts and the rather spicy end of a cigar. Comments: a beast! But its charms are many and I don't find it too imbalanced at any point. Feels like Ben Nevis is the perfect distillate to grapple with this sort of old school bruiser of a sherry cask. 
SGP: 572 - 91 points. 

Ben Nevis 30 yo 1975/2006 (63.9%, Signatory Vintage, bourbon barrel, cask #7445, 169 bottles)
Colour: bright straw. Nose: unsurprisingly, a glass of petrol. Noses like 10yo rather than 30yo if you ask me. There's also a ton of putty, mineral oil, plaster, soot and mustard powder; globally an extreme and austere style, but with a glimmer of white fruits and waxes as well. With water: gets fatter, broader, more waxy, more oily, on aniseed, putty, limestone and some extremely grassy rapeseed oil. Mouth: young apple eau de vie, with more waxes, mineral oils, suet, fir wood and very powerful fruit eau de vie impressions. Brutally strong though, so… with water: really doubling down of feelings of fresh fruit distillates, marc de gewurz, tarragon pickled in spirit vinegar, roast parsnips and even things like turpentine and mercurochrome. Hard to untangle such a beast, but it's an undeniably charismatic and fun distillate. Finish: medium, sharper, more salty and still with these impressions of salt-baked vegetables and hyper grassy cooking oils. Comments: not in the same league as the 1996s by any measure I would say, this really recalls the days when we all thought of Ben Nevis as 'funny' or 'at least never boring' - how times have changed. I think these batches were pretty tricky to be honest, but I rather like this fruit distillate theme.
 SGP: 441 - 84 points.