A Ben Nevis Solera, seven-by-seven, part 5


February 6, 2026

A Ben Nevis Solera, seven-by-seven,
part 5

I think this will be our last Ben Nevis session for a few weeks. You should never overdo a good thing…

Former Distillery Manager Colin Ross (Pop Art carnage, AI)

Ben Nevis 1996/2025 (45.7%, The Whisky Jury, refill hogshead, cask #1648, 260 bottles)

The 1998 from the other day had been magnificent, but here we are in 1996. Keenly observed, wouldn’t you say? In fact, we’ve already tasted around ten Ben Nevis from these vintages bottled by The Whisky Jury, which is almost as many as the official releases. This is no joke... Colour: pale gold. Nose: it’s always a bit of a nuisance to start this high, let’s admit it. Banana skins, a medley of vegetable oils, overripe apples, seawater, beeswax, a flick of mustard, a smidge of leather, a few grams of tobacco, three fresh walnuts, yada, yada, yada… Mouth: far more compact on the palate, and to be honest almost jarring in how tight, precise, and above all salty it is. What we’d call a clean line. Finish: very long, very elegant, very classy, saline and spicy yet also sublimely bitter. Comments: perfect, almost embarrassingly so. And psst, vastly superior, in my opinion, to most sherry butts (or sherry hoggies for that matter).
SGP:562 – 92 points.

Appetite comes with eating, and thirst comes with tasting… (note: this isn’t an official saying). Anyway, we're carrying on with the Jury. Naturally…

Ben Nevis 1996/2025 (48.2%, The Whisky Jury, 6th Anniversary, refill hogshead, cask #348649, 270 bottles)

Let’s keep it brief—six years isn’t exactly a vast stretch. No offence meant. Colour: gold. Nose: a fruitier version, thus very lovely but a touch less complete than the previous. Fruit salad, mango, papaya, banana, pears in syrup, a drop of acacia honey, a splash of fruity olive oil. Irresistible, perhaps even a tad too irresistible, if we’re being pedantic (as often, S.)… Mouth: it regains balance through the wood, sap, fir resin, herbal infusions and teas… Make no mistake, it’s marvellous, but cask #1648 lays down the law here. Finish: fairly long, on honeyed infusions and citrus peels. Slightly drying aftertaste—that’ll be the wood. Comments: it’s always the same tale, it’s only after tasting that you feel like changing the order of the line-up. For truly great spirits bend the whole sequence to their will, and once you’ve tasted them, there’s not much you can do except wait twenty-four hours and start all over again in a different order. At our current tasting rhythm at WF Towers FR or SCO, that’s nigh impossible, we beg your pardon.
SGP:661 – 89 points.

Ben Nevis 1996/2025 (54.6%, The Whisky Jury for The Antelope, refill hogshead, cask #1354, 187 bottles)

Still this killer series de la muerte (pleonasm alert). Colour: gold. Nose: we’re much closer again to the first one of this session—chalky and fatty, with seawater, mashed banana, argan oil, and a dab of fresh oil paint. With water: a touch of brioche dough, sourdough starter, and barley, always a delight. Mouth (neat): unstoppable, commanding, and yet elegant. Nothing to do with D.C., then. The salinity is remarkable, with wee green peppers, salted waxes, even kippers... With water: it all falls into place, becoming more than perfect, though it doesn’t quite scale the interstellar heights of cask 1648. Believe me, I’ve worked my way through a fair few cls of each before arriving at this carefully considered view. All in moderation, of course, Spitfire-style, or just about. Finish: long, leaning more on wax and citrus, with a slightly more herbal edge rather than outright bitterness. Lemon zest. Comments: perhaps a somewhat centrist 1996, if you catch my drift. Superb, naturally.
SGP:551 – 90 points.

Ben Nevis 28 yo 1997/2025 (48.1%, Sansibar, Jens’s Personal Choice, refill sherry cask, cask #11, 198 bottles)

There aren’t that many 1997s about, and let’s just say the vintage (indeed, quite the controversial concept in whisky) doesn’t carry quite the same lustre as 1996 or 1995. But the exception proves the rule, doesn’t it… Colour: white wine. Nose: this is fresh, chalky—more Sauvignon Blanc than Chardonnay—with gooseberries and green apples. This apparent acidity is lovely and almost makes you forget that the sherry’s rather absent here. Unless, of course, it’s refill fino or manzanilla, both of which we adore. That said, the clay-like and chalky side only builds, which is rather glorious. Mouth: the sherry, again, is fairly anecdotal, unless those notes of green walnut are stemming from it. The rest is classic—salty, maritime as anything—and I do wonder whether we couldn’t enjoy a wee glass of this alongside a platter of oysters next time in Paris, alright? Very pretty notes of lemon brioche, still just underbaked. Finish: long, with the arrival of our eternal friend, the good old family limoncello. Comments: it’s just so good!
SGP:552 – 89 points.

Ben Nevis 27 yo 1996/2023 (51.4%, The Whisky Blues, refill hogshead, cask #1333, 196 bottles)

Slightly awkward, really—there’s already a BN from The Whisky Blues leading this wee session by some margin (thanks in part to its marvellous label, which we’ll happily count for a tenth of a point. Well, a twentieth perhaps, but still enough to tip the scales). Colour: pale gold. Nose: balance through freshness. No fruit bomb, no hectolitres of oil, barely any paint, varnish or putty, just a reasonable number of shellfish, a touch of mustard and horseradish here and there, and some restrained citrus. In short, civilisation. With water: brings out the passion fruit, lovely! Mouth (neat): the cask is fairly thick and makes its presence known, straight onto salted and spiced citrus liqueurs. Then come lemon balm, marjoram, and quince paste. For us, quince paste holds the value of gold or platinum, though Wall Street doesn’t seem to have caught on. With water: not much change. Finish: of medium length but very well balanced. A heavy reduction leads to apricot liqueur, if you really want to know. Comments: softer and lighter, yet still quite full-bodied. And of course very, very, very good.
SGP:551 – 90 points.

We're really staying within a handkerchief-sized space here, as we say here – truth be told, we wouldn't mind coming across a poor Ben Nevis, just to add a bit of contrast to this little multi-session. But we know those bottles are few and far between. Right, not that we're going to complain about it.

Still, I reckon we're rather overdoing it with all these 1996s, aren't we?

Ben Nevis 28 yo 1996/2024 (51.8%, East Village Company, Whisky Maniac, sherry butt, 72 bottles)

Post-apocalyptic themes seem to be all the rage on our spirit labels these days. Between that and the cats, I must say my heart is torn... Colour: gold. Nose: rich, oily, gentle, on apple and banana coated in white blossom honey. Acacia, for instance. Then, rather than heading toward the usual markers such as tobacco, leather or brine, it veers off into tropical fruit territory, guava, papaya, mango, grapefruit… With water: it becomes soft and mellow, like fruitcake. Mouth (neat): an exotic fruit salad drizzled with lemon juice and mezcal. Works for you? With water: little change, save for some wee fruits and berries sneaking in, thinking grape in syrup. Finish: medium length, with the wee impression that adding water may have done it no real favours. Comments: a truly lovely Ben Nevis in any case, and for once we’ll just say it plainly—please, no water.
SGP:651 – 90 points.

Careful now, we messed up our calculations, we only had six Ben Nevis on the table this time, not seven. Not a big deal, right? All in all, we’ll have tasted 34 different versions, which is pretty good going. And we’ve hovered around the 90-point mark the whole way through, just a little lower for the younger ones, which says a lot about the quality of these Ben Nevis/Nevisses — even the very young ones, in fact.

So naturally, we can’t help but think of Colin Ross, who was undeniably the skipper of the whole thing. And who often saved us from ending up with all those wonderful casks ruined by ueberfruity port, PX, or Bordeaux rouge. Hasta la vista, Colin Ross — you were, well, you are, a star!

A quick reminder of the cream of the crop, rated WF 92:
Ben Nevis 1996/2025 (45.7%, The Whisky Jury, refill hogshead, cask #1648, 260 bottles)
Ben Nevis 27 yo 1996/2023 (47.9%, The Whisky Blues, hogshead, cask #1638, 267 bottles)
Sister casks, purely by chance, eh…

Check the index of all Ben Nevis we've tasted