Some bottlers are just as fond of Ben Nevis as me. So we can’t stop trying everything we can lay our hands on. Today we’re looking at a couple of recent Ben Nevis 1996, 1998 and 2007 releases from The Taste of Whisky.
We start with the 1996. It’s funny (and slightly worrying at the same time) that you can nowadays stumble upon the auction price of a cask right before bottling. Such information was never available to the public in the past and it probably doesn’t help keeping whisky affordable.
Ben Nevis 27 yo 1996 (54,8%, The Taste of Whisky 2024, bourbon hogshead #1687, 198 btl.)
Nose: beautiful. Classic sunflower oil mixed with peaches and sour apples, mangoes and light maracuja in the background. Then linden honey and beeswax. Some buttery dough, hints of dried meadow flowers and light plaster. One of these slightly Irish examples, promising tropical fruits on the palate.
Mouth: that lovely oily and tropically fruity profile! Olive oil, with plenty of verbena and spearmint. Then it bursts open into tangerines, mango, papaya and passion fruit. Subtle syrupy notes. Also waxy notes, hints of floral honey and light oak spice. Subtle chalky dryness and echoes of fruit tea towards the end.
Finish: quite long, with lemon and lime, a subtle salty edge, honey and peppermint.
TTOW already had a great Ben Nevis 1996 #1439 before, and I believe this one is even better. Pretty brilliant in my opinion, offering the Bushmills-style fruits that we’re always hoping for in these casks, along with balanced austerity. Up there with some of the best ones like #1372 or #1595. In fact this is the kind of whisky that comes to mind when I think of future legends.
Ben Nevis 24 yo 1998 (51,2%, The Taste of Whisky ’10th Anniversary’ 2023, first fill sherry hogshead #1357, 175 btl.)
Nose: heavy sherry, with a lot of intense tobacco, spent coffee and heady varnish, even a whiff of acetone. Slightly musty elements as well, like wet earth, marmite and cellar. I wouldn’t call it dirty though, there’s enough raisin sweetness, chocolate coated blueberries and walnuts to keep it on the right track. The style of sherry reminds me of the 1970s.
Mouth: heavily toasted European oak? A lot of tobacco, black pepper, walnuts and chocolate, along with a hint of Coca-Cola and herbal hints. Still this volatile edge. Then leather and sandalwood, as well as black cherries and cassis liqueur. Just a light astringency in the end.
Finish: rather long, on dark chocolate and wood spice with hints of bitter nuts and cigar ashes.
I’m not always a fan of sherry casks for Ben Nevis. It highlights the dirty side of the spirit and it tends to hide that unique fruitiness. All personal expectations aside though, there’s no doubt this is a great sherry bomb. Score: 91/100
The next vintage is 2007. There are almost no bottlings from this year on Whiskybase: this TTOW release and three others, including the Le Gus’t bottling.
Ben Nevis 16 yo 2007 (51,3%, The Taste of Whisky 2024, bourbon barrel #700087, 204 btl.)
Nose: there’s a big creamy side, with vanilla custard and cake, as well as mashed bananas and apple compote. Grapefruit and subtle oak. Then hints of sweet ginger, raw wool, powdery chalk and light beeswax. A little hay and a whiff of geranium too.
Mouth: nice combination of creamy fruits (peach, orange and lime, pear, green plum) with sharper mineral notes, walnut and grapefruit zest. A light fizzy bitterness of tonic water. Still floral honey underneath.
Finish: quite long, with more citrus zest, bitter orange and pure mineral notes.
A classic mix of mineral austerity and creamy fruits, exactly what we’re looking for. This is a promising vintage as well. Still available from The Taste of Whisky. Score: 88/100