A Ben Nevis Solera, seven-by-seven


February 2, 2026

A Ben Nevis Solera, seven-by-seven

There are distilleries that end up in virtually every independent bottler’s line-up, often in frankly astonishing quantities. Ben Nevis is one of them – there are millions of Ben Nevis bottlings out there right now. I’m barely exaggerating. Well, alright, I am, but around here we’re absolutely swamped with Ben Nevis. There’s only one solution: kick off a ‘solera’ session, where we add a random tasting note every time we have five spare minutes. Okay, ten. Fifteen, even… Right, off we go, at random, noses to the wind, in batches of six… No, seven. Oh and we too love Ben Nevis.

Ben Nevis 29 yo 1996/2025 (48.9%, Royal Mile Whiskies, cask #408, 227 bottles)

1996 is of course the legendary vintage at Ben Nevis, which means we’re off to perhaps the most ludicrous session start imaginable. We are the culprits, naturally. Colour: white wine. Nose: orchard apples and linseed oil, grand sauvignon blanc – I daresay we’ll be referencing Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé quite frequently in this solera session – then slag and chalk. Mouth: earthy, waxy, spicy perfection. Peppers, fruit peels, green walnuts, mustard (yet another hallmark), green pepper, then along come papayas and passion fruit, all neatly flanked by green pepper. Finish: long, lively, fresh, with a sudden appearance of lemon and also white peach. Oilier aftertaste, which is very much ‘BN’. Comments: we’re diving straight into a cracking 1996, even if it does show a smidgen of restraint.
SGP:562 - 87 points.

Ben Nevis 25 yo 1999/2024 (51.2%, Liquid Treasures for The Antelope Macau, refill bourbon hogshead, 232 bottles)

Colour: reddish amber. Nose: we’re much more in classic 1996 territory here, akin to a fine sweet wine that’s fully digested its sugars, with lashings of vineyard peaches, sultanas, fresh figs and beeswax. This nose is rather marvellous. With water: sublime old-hive beeswax, positively brimming with honey, pollen and propolis. Because of course, there’s beeswax and then there’s beeswax. Mouth (neat): superb. Peaches, white pepper, liquorice, the whole ensemble synchronised like a team of Danish alpine troopers on manoeuvres in Greenland. With water: perfect, complex, very Ben Nevis. Ben Nevis truly is a malt apart, is it not. Finish: long, a tad more unruly and leaning bitter/herbal, but nothing untoward. Comments: only the finish is a touch less assured, otherwise we were well on our way to perfection.
SGP:551 - 88 points.

Ben Nevis 28 yo 1996/2025 (51.8%, Milroy’s, hogshead, cask #1583)

Colour: gold. Nose: frankly, this one is near-identical to the previous, just a touch more honeyed and rounded, with a tiny bit more of those overripe apples. The rest is similar. With water: faint notes of beer. Mouth (neat): waxes, peppers, small green fruits, cider apples, white pepper. And a good few litres of mature white Burgundy from a grand vintage. Love these guys but they have been a little full of themselves for years, but I assure you that’s starting to deflate rather swiftly, the old equation of one hectare = one Porsche is beginning to lose, err, a bit of traction. With water: herbal infusions. Finish: fairly long, more candied, more caramelised, yet still quite rustic. Comments: very good of course, though it doesn’t quite lift us skyward or coax us into kinship with the eagles and condors §what?). But you get my drift.
SGP:561 - 86 points.

We’ve rather fetishised the 1996s, but perhaps it’s time we tried a more recent vintage…

Ben Nevis 15 yo 2010/2025 (52.8%, Hogshead Import, refill hogshead)

Colour: white wine. Nose: very much on varnish, hairspray, apple juice, sourdough and roots – celery, carrot, turnip… With water: same again. Hints of nail polish remover. Mouth (neat): excellent on the palate, far more so than on the nose. A mezcal and juniper side, 50/50, plus a sooty touch reminiscent of Caol Ila. I know, it sounds odd, but it’s brilliant. With water: cucumber juice, oyster juice. Finish: long, taut, saline, increasingly on seawater. Comments: forget the nose, dive straight into the palate. Seriously, isn’t this some sort of undercover mezcal? Whatever it is, it’s excellent.
SGP:562 - 87 points.

Ben Nevis 12 yo 2012/2025 (53%, Decadent Drams)

A double maturation, with the final five years spent in a sherry cask. Colour: light gold. Nose: this isn’t a funky BN at all, we’re more in the realm of soft fats, baked apples and greengage jam. But water could change all that… With water: we’re back at birth, with porridge, beer, even vegetables (Brussels sprouts) and freshly knocked-down walnuts. Mouth (neat): far more presence than the nose suggested without reduction, much more on mustard, leather, green walnut and tobacco. It’s almost as if the secondary maturation in sherry had far more influence on the palate than on the nose. Funny, that, isn’t it? With water: we land on amontillado, walnut liqueur, devilled sauce, even oregano. Finish: long, very dry, very taut, veering towards Noilly Prat. Comments: chef’s tip, use it to flambé scallops.
SGP:462 - 87 points.

Ben Nevis 11 yo 2013/2025 (58.6%, Dramfool, bourbon barrel, cask #551, 205 bottles)

The burning question among the wide cohort of Bennevissophiles remains: has Ben Nevis lost its funk in recent years? Especially since the beginning of the post-dear-Colin-Ross era? Only plentiful, consistent and serious tastings will allow us to settle this seminal matter, one that also exists, to a lesser extent, across Scotland at Clynelish. But today we’re in Fort William… Colour: pale gold. Nose: well the answer would appear to be “no”, as we find the requisite doses of mustard, tobacco, seawater, carbon and leather. With water: not the slightest change, still just as austere. Mouth (neat): no, this is excellent, with a fierce lemon joining this salty, tarry and mustardy ensemble. The bitterness is also splendid, though as they say, “it’s perhaps not for everyone”. With water: we’re in extreme fino territory, like those superb limited Lustau releases in their “Puerto” guise. Ultra-cutting, with less sweetness than a shard of granite. Finish: much the same. It’s like you’ve just swallowed a litre of Mediterranean seawater. Comments: seriously, it’s definitely not for everyone, it’s for us! In short, a very extreme BN and, in its own way, rather reassuring.
SGP:372 - 88 points.

Ben Nevis 13 yo 2001/2014 (52.6%, Whisky-Doris, The Nose Art, bourbon hogshead, cask #1289, 131 bottles)

Granted, this isn’t a particularly recent bottle, but we hold Whisky-Doris in the highest regard and hope to see the ever-charming Mr and Mrs Debbeler again in Limburg this year. Colour: light gold. Nose: this Ben Nevis leans towards the fruity side this time – think quince-apple-banana compote, for instance. Very pretty. Flint remains watchful in the background. With water: it folds back into leather, bay leaf and slightly green tobacco. Mouth (neat): oh, perfect! Smoked tea, mustard, tobacco, seawater. Superb poise. With water: lovely bitterness, Seville orange, tobacco, coriander, cardamom. Not a single gram of compromise or commercial gloss, it’s wonderfully refreshing. Finish: and here comes the petrolic riesling, from the finest slopes of Ribeauvillé and Bergheim. Gorgeous richness enveloping it all. Comments: a wine malt. That’s meant to be a compliment.
SGP:363 - 89 points.

(Thanks, Morten)

Check the index of all Ben Nevis we've tasted