Whisky Troef is a whisky club from the north of Belgium, which also happens to be the region of Jürgen Vromans who is behind The Whisky Mercenary. Their latest club bottling is this Ben Nevis 1996.
Ben Nevis 18 yo 1996 (50,9%, The Whisky Mercenary for Whisky Troef 2014, 100 btl.)
Ben Nevis 18 yo 1996 (50,9%, The Whisky Mercenary for Whisky Troef 2014, 100 btl.)Nose: fairly light, but quite a lot happening right away. Starts on subtle grainy / grassy notes and youthful citrus, but evolves nicely towards slightly tropical fruits. Hints of guava and banana. Kiwi. Some rummy touches as well, nice. Typical waxy overtones.
Mouth: immediately lemony, with both the juice and the zesty notes. Creamy and sweet at first, then adding spices. Green banana, peach, quite some ginger and grapefruit. Oranges with cloves. A bit of honey underneath.
Finish: medium long, reminds me of a gin & tonic for its combination of spices, lemon and balanced bitterness.
This is quite a zesty Ben Nevis, flirting with a Littlemill profile at times and showing a great overall freshness and complexity. A big part of the allocation was reserved for club members but I’ve heard a couple of bottles are still available to outsiders. Around € 95.
Score: 87/100