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| Hi, you're in the Archives, February 2026 - Part 1 |
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February 6, 2026 |
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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) |
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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… |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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? |
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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… |
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February 5, 2026 |
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A Ben Nevis Solera, seven-by-seven, part 4 |
We carry on, plain and simple… There’s still a lot of Ben Nevis around, and all the better for it. Still in the lead: the Ben Nevis 52 yo 1973/2025 (40.1%, Thompson Bros., two refill hogsheads), for several reasons.
The director’s Jaguar at Ben Nevis (WF Archive, 2006) |
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Ben Nevis 11 yo 2012/2024 (54%, Brothers in Malt, octaves, 289 bottles) 
From several octaves. Given octaves are small casks, the wood-to-spirit ratio is of course higher than, say, in a hogshead – though a refill octave can be less active than a first fill or rejuvenated hoggie, naturally. Let’s see… Colour: full gold. Nose: active! Wood varnish and kirsch, orgeat, bitter almonds, praline cream and straight-up walnut liqueur. Very typical, and rather balanced for now. With water: it stands firm, no amount of water fazes it. Mouth (neat): very much in line with the nose but now with more ginger and cinnamon mints, which add quite a punchy edge to the whole. Very spicy. With water: there we go – it softens, with citrus zest and those classic BN notes of tobacco and mild mustard. The base distillate hadn’t been so apparent earlier. Finish: long, and this time the proverbial salinity arrives. Comments: truth be told, this young scrapper just kept improving.
SGP:362 - 85 points. |
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Ben Nevis 6 yo 2019/2025 (55%, The Whisky Exchange, Caoineag the Weeping Spirit, sherry butts, casks #416 & 423, 666 bottles)
A Highland witch tale here, which might well suit a 6-year-old BN at full strength. With a touch of Alsatian naivety, one wonders whether the bottle count was intentional or just luck. Colour: full gold. Nose: old walnuts and exhaust fumes, sulphur, leather, ashes, then coriander and pepper sauce, or something along those lines. With water: tobacco, cigar ash and pepper. Mouth (neat): a slightly unsettling brutality at first, but it rounds off with lemon marmalade and pickled lemons. It’s also noticeably peatier. With water: bitter herbs emerge, all very charming. Finish: long, briny, with a surprising young Ledaig character. Fair point – we’re not far from Mull, are we? Comments: very good, especially for just 6 years.
SGP:465 - 85 points. |
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Ben Nevis 13 yo 2011/2025 (56.6%, Le Gus’t, hogshead, cask #289, 303 bottles)
Featuring a lovely photo of dear Colin Ross, ex-Distillery Manager, on the label. He really ought to appear on every Ben Nevis bottle, even the official ones – there, I’ve said it. What a character! Deeply missed… Colour: white wine. Nose: we’re back to the (so-called) purity of the distillate, lightly wrapped in custard and perhaps a touch of white chocolate. Seawater, green walnut, carbon, ‘distillate sulphur’, paraffin, new leather, fresh concrete… With water: just goes on. Mouth (neat): quite different now, with a strong hit of damp earth, peanut caramel, then candle wax and plenty of cardamom. The candle notes edges toward pure paraffin, with even the faintest trace of soapiness – which fits this profile perfectly. Finish: long, with lovely lemony bitterness. One thinks of obscure regional Italian amari – though don’t ask me their names. Salted bitter almond and loads of pepper on the aftertaste. Comments: very original and very good.
SGP:462 - 88 points. |
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Ben Nevis 26 yo 1998 (43.2%, Lady of the Glen, Rare Cask, refill hogshead, cask #176, 276 bottles)
An interesting bottling strength, which might hint at a more complex and tertiary profile than some other releases from the same vintage… Colour: white wine. Nose: oh yes, this is spot on – clearer than expected but also more precise, on beeswax, lemon, seawater and a few hints of dill, before shifting into the realm of top-tier Burgundian chardonnays, with that distinctly chalky terroir. Though perhaps the robe of the malt already pointed us in that direction. Mouth: a little more fragile on the palate, with a more pronounced herbal infusion side, but I still find it excellent. Perfect salinity and lovely, mildly sweet pepper. Finish: not especially long, but the waxiness returns, and that’s always welcome. Very ripe banana and pear. Comments: one of its lesser qualities is that you could sip it in outrageous quantities without blinking. Not that we’re recommending that, naturally.
SGP:551 - 89 points. |
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Ben Nevis 28 yo 1996/2025 (44.8%, Casky & One or Two, hogshead, Two Cities, One Spirit, cask #953, 256 bottles)
A Ben Nevis from the emblematic vintage, offered as a link between Hong Kong and Melbourne. We’re all for it! Colour: white wine, perfect. Nose: we’re squarely in Côte de Beaune blanc territory here, somewhere around Puligny or Chassagne. It starts out almost simply – banana, chalk, vanilla and toast – but quickly livens up with herbs, flowers and fruit showing with lovely restraint. I adore those whitecurrant touches with a bit of beeswax. Mouth: a relatively soft 1996, likely due to a pronounced angels’ share. Perhaps a touch more fragile than on the nose, and thus less commanding, but still a tremendous Ben Nevis – complex, increasingly citrussy and, naturally, ever more saline. Finish: now that’s perfectly taut, very saline, very lemony, with a splendid and layered bitterness. Comments: funny how this one kept bouncing between 91 - 90 - 89 - 88 - 89 - 90 - 91 in my overall score. No, it’s superb. Incidentally, I’m heading back to Hong Kong soon, but I’ve never been to Melbourne and I rather regret that.
SGP:652 - 91 points. |
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Ben Nevis 27 yo 1996/2023 (47.9%, The Whisky Blues, hogshead, cask #1638, 267 bottles)
Sublime label, as always. I honestly think they have the most beautiful labels in the entire world of spirits – tied, perhaps, with LMDW’s Artist series. Colour: white wine. Nose: an ultra-precise 1996 BN – I don’t think I even need to say more. You’re right, it’s a welcome break. Mouth: same story on the palate – nothing further required. So instead, I’ll retell the one about the Scottish chef who always cooks with whisky and, occasionally, even adds some to the food. You brought this on yourselves. Finish: long, characterful, lemony, chalky, waxy, saline, in short, very ‘BN’. Comments: a splendid bottle, very different from the ‘Hong Kong – Melbourne’ one in that this is just so immediate and direct. Truly, I don’t think it’s possible to do much better in this style.
SGP:562 - 92 points. |
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Ben Nevis 1996/2025 (47.3%, Malts of Scotland for The Whisky Dreamers FPC, bourbon hogshead, cask #Mos 25013, 188 bottles)
A very Belgo-Dutch affair, judging by the little flags on the label – though of course the bottler is German. Vive l’Europe! In truth, I don’t really see what could go wrong here… Colour: gold. Nose: macerated chalk in banana and mango juice with a dash of sesame oil – that’s what we’ve got. Add three ripe mirabelles for garnish. Joking aside, this is a fruitier ’96 BN than the previous ones. Mouth: utterly charming when the wood plays its hand a little, creating a balance that’s perhaps slightly fragile but refined, like the veiled marble of Raffaele Monti (right, that’s a bit much, S.) Finish: not very long but highly complex, with tremendous finesse, showcasing all the little classic BN bits – ashes, tobacco, oils – and a touch of honey in the aftertaste. Comments: such exquisite softness.
SGP:651 - 91 points. |
Right then, after twenty-eight Ben Nevis, it’s the 27 yo 1996/2023 by The Whisky Blues that’s taken the lead, with a WF score of 92. But it’s not over, we should have more Ben Nevis next time. That’s right, tomorrow if all goes well. |
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February 4, 2026 |
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A Ben Nevis Solera, seven-by-seven,
part 3
Right then, so far we've had several ’91s, but the most miraculous was the 1973 from the Thompsons, so we’re arbitrarily deciding that it’s the front-runner. Let’s keep going…
Untitled, 2022, Sthenjwa Luthuli (with Ben Nevis 10 yo Artist #15 LMDW.) |
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Ben Nevis 10 yo ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ (58.3%, La Maison du Whisky, Artist #15, 1st fill sherry finish, cask #202, 655 bottles)
Colour: Nose: straight into shoe polish and gun oil, all rather military, then increasingly on pencil shavings with a mix of citrus zest, curry and ginger. The cask was active. With water: it folds back slightly onto cedarwood. Mouth (neat): very powerful, spicy but not over the top, very citrussy too, veering more and more toward bergamot and the usual mustard. It’s quite something to witness the battle between cask and distillate, with the latter gradually winning out. What a beast! With (Roger) water(s) – yes, another daft joke, even here: again not much change, though a saltier edge emerges. Finish: same again for quite a while. Comments: these Ben Nevis are just brilliant. And yes, you did catch the two-penny pun – Dark Side of the Moon, Roger Waters… Sorry!
SGP:562 - 87 points. |
And since we’re in Paris… |
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Ben Nevis 2018/2025 (46%, Whisky Live Paris Edition, 1st fill oloroso butt, cask #209, 856 bottles)
Eight hundred and fifty-six bottles from a single butt, even at 46% vol., is a fine result. But I believe this was a finishing, so the angels’ share would’ve been lower. And yes, WLP was in September, and yes, we’re late again. Colour: full gold. Nose: as expected, very close to the Dark Side, especially now that the latter has been reduced. Perhaps a touch more chocolate toffee here, and some roasted chestnuts. Mouth: same elements on the palate. Chocolate, cedarwood, a hint of malt extract, salted nuts. Finish: much the same. A touch more peppery. Comments: excellent of course, we’re just docking one point for that rascal Roger Waters, hoping he won’t charge us royalties.
SGP:562 - 86 points. |
Right then, let’s head back to the 1990s… |
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Ben Nevis 1998/2025 (48.3%, The Whisky Jury, refill hogshead, cask #1562, Belgium Exclusive, 92 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: the balance between apple, banana and peach on one side, and salty, waxy, almost coppery notes on the other, with old walnut, mint, tobacco and leather acting as referees. There’s a faint lean into light Jamaican rum territory, which frankly doesn’t surprise us coming from The Whisky Jury. Mouth: tricky, this – it’s like the rev counter of a sports car hitting the limiter, climbing fast into the 90s and settling there almost instantly. Sour apple, leather, pepper, salami, chlorophyll, thyme, salt… Finish: it’s almost like chewing a cigar, then it lands on a classic salty and peppery combo. Comments: superb of course, perhaps just a shade less ‘obvious’ than some others. Top class, nonetheless.
SGP:462 - 90 points. |
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Ben Nevis 28 yo 1996/2024 (52.8%, Douglas Laing Xtra Old Particular for The Whisky Exchange, refill butt, 208 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: long story short, the joy of fresh walnuts, humus, dried morels, leather and tobacco. Chestnut honey rounds off the set. With water: gentle waxy and soapy puffs, perfectly placed in this context. Mouth (neat): magnificent, ultra-powerful, brutal – far more so than the ABV would suggest. Oily, packed with walnuts, smoked fish, oyster sauce, bitter orange and tobacco. Utterly impressive. With water: extraordinary bitterness. If you don’t like bitterness, move along; if you do, try to snag a case – if there are any left in London or beyond. Finish: very long, oily, bitter, enveloping, saline. Comments: marvellous, 91 plus. Just austere enough, and perhaps not the best advert for malt whisky in general. Still, definitely for the seasoned drinker, I’d say, with only the faintest touch of immodesty.
SGP:462 - 91 points. |
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Ben Nevis 1998/2025 (54.3%, Liquid Art, cask #1560, 140 bottles)
No doubt a very artistic liquid inside this bottle – though the label itself certainly doesn’t fall short. Colour: full gold. Nose: here in this 1998 we find that slightly rounder, more civilised Ben Nevis character than in the 1996s, even more floral, with bursts of rose petals and oriental pastries. Even viognier! But it’s really lovely… With water: we drift back a little toward leather and mustard. Mouth (neat): absolutely excellent, positioned squarely between west coast and east coast styles (somewhere west of Tomintoul, where there’s virtually nothing at all), on wax, palo cortado, walnut wine and brine. With water: leather, tobacco, pepper, salted lemon juice, tequila, juniper, beer bitters… Finish: long, bitter-leaning. Comments: absolutely superb, perhaps just a shade less coherent than some of its brethren.
SGP:551 - 88 points. |
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Ben Nevis 1997/2024 (53.3%, Delia’s Whisky Shop and The Whisky Agency, Christmas Series 2024)
There’s scarcely any point in noting we’re late again, it’s become a given, and we do apologise. Colour: light gold. Nose: it’s true there isn’t much 1997 about, and here we’re faced with a civilised, gentle version of BN, on milk chocolate and even white chocolate, before veering more towards fino sherry, small oysters and petrolic riesling. It’s really very lovely, leaning ever further towards the east coast, which we certainly won’t complain about. With water: a pine needle bed, moss, pinecones… Mouth (neat): this time it’s full of bitters – aubergine, leeks, artichoke, bitter orange, rocket, Fernet Branca, Noilly Prat… The problem is, we adore all that. Not a tenth of a gram of sweetness. With water: the wax arrives, along with candied lemon. Finish: long and bitter, very fine. Salty aftertaste, as expected. Comments: excellent.
SGP:462 - 90 points. |
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Ben Nevis 28 yo 1996/2024 (49.6%, The Antelope & Kanpaikai, refill hogshead, cask #1324, 192 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: we have the honour and privilege of announcing the return of mango, banana, copper coins, damp earth and, more broadly, the gentler, more civilised Ben Nevis style. Mouth: quite the opposite – immediately firmer, taut, lemony, even acidic, with those beloved bitters we find so often in Ben Nevis. Small pears and green apples, service tree fruit, jujubes, plus wax and chlorophyll. Finish: long but even ‘greener’, concentrated, acidic and bitter. Green and black propolis. This one doesn’t hold back, even at 28 years of age, but it’s a delight to be wrestled by it. Comments: all these 1996–1998 BNs are markedly different, yet they cluster tightly in terms of scoring. A very fine bottle.
SGP:462 - 89 points. |
Right, that makes three Ben Nevis sessions, there’ll definitely be a fourth, and maybe even a fifth. Stay tuned… |
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February 3, 2026 |
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A Ben Nevis Solera, seven-by-seven, part 2
For now, the youthful 2001 from Whisky-Doris is in the lead (WF 89). Shall we carry on at random, if you're happy with that…? The first one today will be our 400th. |
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Ben Nevis 10 yo 2014/2025 (48%, Wilson & Morgan Barrel Selection, Signature, sherry, cask #178/179)
A vatting of refill PX and oloroso. Colour: light gold. Nose: we’re instantly back with tobacco, chalk and slate, joined by the faintest hints of mustard and a dry, elegant sherry from which emerge notes of dried raisins and equally dry figs, all handled with great restraint. It’s really very elegant – a Ben Nevis glancing ever so slightly towards the little town of Craigellachie, one might say. Mouth: a much more ‘Ben Nevis’ Ben Nevis on the palate, if you see what I mean, very close to the sherry-led official releases, fairly packed with leather, tobacco, salted almonds and bitter orange. Excellent. Finish: very long, more peppery, more on nut-and-honey biscuits, and the ever-quoted Italian nocino liqueur. Comments: thoroughly classic, excellent. The reduction to 48% has worked a treat.
SGP:552 - 88 points. |
Another young one probably heavily influenced by sherry… |
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Ben Nevis 2013/2025 (54.7%, Taste Still by Corman Collins, Blurred Lines, 1st fill oloroso, 234 bottles)
Apparently, the name of this baby comes from a Pharrell Williams song. And there we were thinking it was a nod to the layout of our little website (very immodestly, I admit). Colour: dark red amber. Nose: between millionaire’s shortbread and honey cake to begin with, then straight into Xmas cake and its Italian cousin we so adore, panettone, and finally malted coffee and toasted malt… With water: it doesn’t shift much. Light tobacco, very Ben Nevis. Mouth (neat): lovely sherry, thick, concentrated, between pepper and Corinth raisins. A little Nescafé in the background. With water: the salty side emerges, mustard, stock cube… But all done with restraint. Finish: long, much more bitter. Leather and tobacco. Slightly earthy aftertaste. Comments: rather a handsome bottle.
SGP:462 - 87 points. |
Since we’re on a youthful streak… (forget about total randomness — we never quite manage it anyway…) |
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Ben Nevis 2018/2025 (58.7%, Bedford Park, 1st fill oloroso sherry hogshead, cask #3148, 311 bottles)
Always interesting to try a very young version… Colour: rosé amber. Funny colour. Nose: extremely compact and rounded, on honey, caramel, toffee and prunes. There’s even a faint touch of Bailey’s, and we’re all for that. And even Guinness. With water: curious notes of new rubber and fresh putty join the mix – must be the distillate reacting. Mouth (neat): same compactness, but much more malty on the palate. Malt-and-honey chocolate, Maltesers… With water: I’d have said 15 years old. Chocolate, malt drink, café latte, then the usual suspects – tobacco, leather, mustard, stock cubes… Finish: long, on similar notes, just with a bit more leather. Comments: very high quality-to-age ratio, that’s for sure.
SGP:462 - 87 points. |
Another youngster, but from a very different type of cask… |
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Ben Nevis 12 yo 2012/2025 (56.4%, Single Cask Nation, 1st fill heavy char hogshead, cask #170023, 241 bottles)
In theory, Ben Nevis with its heft should be able to handle heavy char… Colour: dark amber. Nose: it’s got a recharred sherry feel to it, and everything clicks into place with precision – it’s simple (and simplicity is a virtue here) and compact (same comment), taking us close to a tin of assorted caramels from Rowntree Mackintosh. Remember those? For now the distillate stays a little shy, though water might coax it out. With water: no, still leaning on fresh wood and one can’t deny a hint of young bourbon about it. Mouth (neat): oh this is good! Much livelier than expected, all on oranges, pepper, salt and bitter almonds. Hints of cedarwood, pencil shavings etc., as expected. Excellent. With water: the distillate unfurls, though the whole remains pleasingly dry and bitter, the Ben Nevis DNA taking over once more. Finish: long and very dry. Cold black tea and pepper. Comments: there’s an old amontillado edge at the end, which is amusing. And very good of course – it’s from a cracking house.
SGP:362 - 87 points. |
Let’s move on to some older ones… And speaking of oldies… |
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Ben Nevis 52 yo 1973/2025 (40.1%, Thompson Bros., two refill hogsheads)
We really do enjoy these pastiche-style bottle designs – always great fun. But still, a 52-year-old Ben Nevis that isn’t housed in a crystal decanter inside a mahogany chest, nor endorsed by a fading Hollywood star – what a statement! Colour: gold. Nose: on one hand, that pedigree and the low strength could be worrying, the sort of “we bottled this because it had been sitting for over 50 years.” On the other hand, we know the Thompson lads a bit. And so, what we have is an exotic fruit salad lightly adorned with herbal teas and infusions – verbena, woodruff, even genepy. In short, the freshness of it all is genuinely impressive, if unexpected. But of course, the palate will have the final say… Mouth: what is this sorcery? Sutherlandian witchcraft? Indeed, there are those tisanes that hint at the whisky’s age, but never does it become drying, papery or dusty, quite the opposite. Gorgeous little berries (rowan eau de vie, holly and the like) joined by hints of guava (really) and those wee bananas that always work wonders in our spirits, young or old. Finish: obviously, the finish isn’t long, and it shifts more and more towards herbal teas and very old white wines, but it never truly falters. The most astonishing thing is that right at the very end, the original distillate sends forth its leather, tobacco, bitter orange and even a wisp of seawater. It must have had superpowers. Comments: had this very old Ben Nevis been kept in some sort of time capsule?
SGP:561 - 91 points. |
It had to happen, this 1973 has now taken the lead in our multi-session. Right then, let’s carry on… |
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Ben Nevis 29 yo 1996/2025 (48.5%, The Whisky Firm, bourbon hogshead, cask #406, 186 bottles)
We’re in those rather legendary vintages of the late 1990s. There’s a glut of casks… and a glut of quality, as everyone knows. Colour: gold. Nose: mineral oils, vegetable oils, brake dust and walnut liqueur, then cigars and a drop of seawater flavoured with menthol (who on earth would do such a thing?) We are swimming in full-on Ben-Nevisness. Oh, and a few tiny figs. Mouth: absolutely excellent, on mineral dust, green walnuts, brine, leather and tobacco. Then comes bitter orange. The texture and power are pitch perfect. Finish: long and gloriously saline, bordering on mezcal. Comments: firmly in its place, which is right up at the top of the ladder. Its only flaw is the lack of surprise, but that’s also its greatest strength. Well, you know what I mean, of course.
SGP:552 - 91 points. |
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Ben Nevis 28 yo 1996/2024 (48.6%, Maltbarn, The 26, bourbon)
Maltbarn and Archives seem to be locked in a fierce battle for the title of quirkiest fish labels, it’s all rather amusing. If you collect all their bottles, you’d nearly end up with a full encyclopaedia of aquatic life. That said, I’ve yet to spot any sardines or mackerel… Colour: gold. Nose: a touch more restrained, though by no means shy, more on vegetable oils and lemons at first, but beware, it gathers pace in the glass, gains complexity and begins to reveal some beautiful fruits, peaches in particular. All in all, a rather gentle Ben Nevis 1996. Mouth: a different beast on the palate, here we’re extremely close to the previous bottling, practically indistinguishable. Finish: long and spot-on, salty, earthy and rooty, with that classic duo of leather and mustard lingering in the aftertaste. Comments: be warned, at this strength these Ben Nevis are like velvet-trousered baby Jesuses, as we say, so do keep an eye on your pour rate when tasting, such is the quality.
SGP:652 - 91 points. |
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February 2, 2026 |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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… |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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February 1, 2026 |
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The Rum Sessions, no rum today but rum will be back |
Well, I was planning to share a few more rums this Sunday, but something unexpected caught my eye: a large forum — which I won’t name, out of simple goodwill — rather reminiscent of the old Usenet or Yahoo groups in their lively days. There, a handful of anonymous posters had taken the opportunity to express some fairly critical, and at times rather sharp (right, insulting), opinions about this small website and one of our humble rum posts. |
| Honestly, it isn’t such a bad thing. A fully commercial web filled only with praise or even neutrality or consensus would hardly be something to strive for, and a little disagreement is part of what makes independent spaces interesting. Plus, as Courteline once suggested, though expressed in far harsher terms, being judged foolish by someone lacking perspective can almost feel like a quiet compliment. |
| Still, I’ll admit it did leave me feeling a touch deflated reading those remarks. More importantly, it put me slightly off enjoying another glass of rum today — a fortiori five or seven of them — though I’m sure the pleasure will return soon enough. |
| In any case, let’s all take a breath, stay kind, and send a little warmth even to those poor anonymous souls. |
| Hugs and kisses to everyone. |
| See you tomorrow with more whisky... hopefully. |
| Yours, |
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P.S. I've just realised that this January may well have broken a record — or so it seems, though I don’t really keep an eye on our stats, as I firmly believe the quality of our readership matters a thousand times more than its size (which only really concerns those with something to sell — if that).
So exactly 930,570 unique visitors in January, talk about a Dry January! (official figures from our provider - and not visits, hits, extrapolations by third parties, or what have you). Screen copy on request.
Update: A thorough analysis led some talented tech boys and girls to detect significant traffic coming from bots, scrapers, crawlers and the like — totalling the equivalent of 107K visitors, no less. This would bring the actual number of unique visitors in January down to 823,000.
I must humbly admit, that does warm the heart a little. After all, we could even have savoured a few rums today, but it's too late. See you. |
Hold on a second, since you're here, we might as well publish a couple of wee whiskies, even if it is Sunday. Why not these ones… |
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WF's Little Duos,
two very young Auchentoshan to ease into spring, plus bonus |
Alright then, there are still a good six weeks to go before spring arrives here in the northern hemisphere – although, according to the new orthodoxy from D.C., we now talk about eastern and western hemispheres rather than north and south. I suppose the Earth will be flat any day now. Anyway, all the more reason to enjoy two young Auchentoshans… |
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Auchentoshan 9 yo 2016/2025 ‘Waiting for the Sun’ (46%, Uncharted Whisky Co., 1st fill bourbon barrel, cask #UC0149, 617 bottles) 
Have you seen the name of this baby? If that’s not a whisky for the times… That said, 617 bottles from a single cask, even at 46% vol, that’s jolly robust. Must be a vatting of two or even three barrels. Colour: very pale white wine. Nose: extremely youthful, very spirity indeed, but also fresh as a daisy and nicely fruity, this is truly classic Auchentoshan of yesteryear, when the triple distillation profile was still front and centre. Haribo jellybeans and the like, limoncello, banana foam, touches of cologne water, citronella... In short, I’ve no idea whether it keeps mosquitoes at bay, but it’s remarkably faithful to the raw distillate and we’d take that any day over oodles of oak or clumsy wine seasoning. Mouth: splendid bitterness, and above all, lashings of fruit eau-de-vie—damson, mirabelle, pear, kirsch, rowanberry and such. Right, and barley too, the whole thing having seemingly aged in a demijohn for ten years or so. But you see, we do love our fruit spirits, so we’re entirely on board with this naked Auchentoshan. Finish: of moderate length, stems and leaves bobbing back up to the surface. In short, fairly herbaceous and bitter. Comments: pure, unvarnished young Auchentoshan, in its birthday suit. It’ll surely climb the ladder once it packs in a few more years…
SGP:660 - 84 points. |
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Auchentoshan 13 yo 2011/2025 (60.6%, Single Cask Nation, Online Exclusive, 4-years in 2nd fill peated bourbon barrel, cask #160463, 198 bottles)
Online exclusive? That’s cool, we are online, aren’t we. That said, we’re awfully curious to see how peat, even just a trace, behaves on something as lean-bodied as Auchentoshan. Shall we? Colour: gold. Nose: how amusing, it initially noses like smoked rosewater, but what’s even funnier is how rapidly the distillate—slightly fattier than usual here—drives off that smoke by brute force, leaving only the faintest wisps. Still, that’s enough to garnish the Juicy Fruit chewing gums, fresh fruits and sweeties, especially... raspberry. Mind you, that raspberry note may well stem from the lofty ABV, so beware… With water: smoked raspberry eau-de-vie, that’s the one. Mouth (neat): borderline virulent, and unmistakably peaty, yet it works a treat. No dissonance whatsoever—in fact, it’s a superb in-cask blended malt. Well, you know what I mean. At any rate, it’s far peatier on the palate than on the nose, and it does faintly evoke cousin Bowmore. With water: it’s uncanny how natural this feels, ticking all the right boxes and showing the coherence of a proper single malt. Oranges, smoked salmon, lemon, three drops of seawater… Finish: long, fresh, elegant, lemony, peppery and smoky, much like a Talisker in fact. Comments: seriously though, Auchentoshan’s markers are present and correct here too. Could we get a thousand palettes of precisely this malt?
SGP:564 - 88 points. |
PS: pour that one blind, no one will believe it is what it is. Hang on, while we're at it, a little bonus... |
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Secret Lowland 11 yo (57.1%, Dràm Mor, refill oloroso sherry hogshead finish, cask #105, 324 bottles, 2025)
In theory, it’s Glenkinchie, several anonymised casks of which seem to have made their way onto the open market. The snag, as ever, is that Glenkinchie is so scarce it’s rather tricky to pin down any clear markers or to define a proper style, unless of course one happens to be one of Diageo’s master blenders. Colour: pale gold. Nose: it’s fairly full-bodied, leaning towards sourdough and soft white bread dough, even brioche, with porridge not far behind, then a gentle waft of fresh aniseed and spearmint, with wee white and yellow fruits chiming in quietly. The sherry influence is restrained. With water: little change, though orange drops do appear, along with a rather Auchentoshan-esque brightness. Well well! Mouth (neat): more obvious sherry-led nuttiness, plus preserved citron and candied angelica. Notes of Thai bouillon, coconut milk, and coriander lift it nicely. Even a touch of soy shoots and a mild bitterness that adds welcome tension. With water: very good. Splendid balance, oranges, pink pepper, and still that Thai bouillon showing through... Finish: rather long, heavily orangey, with persistent Thai inflections. Comments: very excellent, and a perfect sparring partner for the second Auchentoshan.
SGP:651 - 88 points. |
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January 2026 |
Serge's favourite recent bottling this month:
Pulteney 25 yo 2000/2025 (53.9%, Casky’s Finest Selection and The Antelope, refill barrel, cask #100239) - WF 92
Serge's favourite older bottling this month:
Caol Ila 16 yo (40%, Gordon & MacPhail for Sestante, 75cl, +/-1985) - WF 93
Serge's favourite bang for your buck this month:
Caol Ila 10 yo 2014/2024 ‘Edition #28’ (57.1%, Signatory Vintage, 100 proof, 1st fill & refill oloroso sherry butt) ) - WF 87
Serge's favourite malternative this month:
Hampden 15 yo (50%, OB, Jamaica, 2025) - WF 91
Serge's thumbs up this month:
Kornog 2018/2025 (56.9%, OB, selected by Wu Dram Clan, bourbon barrel, cask #01861, 229 bottles) - WF 91
Serge's Lemon Prize this month:
Dos Maderas ‘Atlantic’ (37.5%, Williams & Humbert, blend, +/-2025) - WF 50 |
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Best spirits Serge tried those weeks, 90+ points only
Ben Nevis 52 yo 1973/2025 (40.1%, Thompson Bros., two refill hogsheads)
Ben Nevis 27 yo 1996/2023 (51.4%, The Whisky Blues, refill hogshead, cask #1333, 196 bottles)
Ben Nevis 29 yo 1996/2025 (48.5%, The Whisky Firm, bourbon hogshead, cask #406, 186 bottles)
Ben Nevis 1996/2025 (54.6%, The Whisky Jury for The Antelope, refill hogshead, cask #1354, 187 bottles)
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)
Ben Nevis 28 yo 1996/2024 (51.8%, East Village Company, Whisky Maniac, sherry butt, 72 bottles)
Ben Nevis 28 yo 1996/2025 (44.8%, Casky & One or Two, hogshead, Two Cities, One Spirit, cask #953, 256 bottles)
Ben Nevis 28 yo 1996/2024 (52.8%, Douglas Laing Xtra Old Particular for The Whisky Exchange, refill butt, 208 bottles)
Ben Nevis 1996/2025 (47.3%, Malts of Scotland for The Whisky Dreamers FPC, bourbon hogshead, cask #Mos 25013, 188 bottles)
Ben Nevis 28 yo 1996/2024 (48.6%, Maltbarn, The 26, bourbon)
Ben Nevis 1997/2024 (53.3%, Delia’s Whisky Shop and The Whisky Agency, Christmas Series 2024)
Ben Nevis 1998/2025 (48.3%, The Whisky Jury, refill hogshead, cask #1562, Belgium Exclusive, 92 bottles)
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