Joeri from The Whisky Jury loves his Ben Nevis, and I know he’s constantly on the lookout for new 1990s casks.
The latest bottling is nicknamed The Pilot. The cask belonged to Mr. Idris McLellan, a former RAF pilot who passed away in 2018. He purchased a cask of new make spirit in 1996 and left it to his twin daughters. They then contacted Joeri, who decided to turn it into a true homage, with pictures of the pilot and his plane on the back label, including the two-toned blue SEAC roundel of the 42nd squadron.
Ben Nevis 25 yo 1996 (53,1%, The Whisky Jury 2022, refill hogshead #1349, 183 btl.)
Nose: less immediately lush than some others. That means sour apples (sauvignon), grapefruit and lime zest at first. Some grassy notes. After a while more tropical notes emerge, like mango and passion fruits. Whiffs of candle wax and wood polish, as well as wet plaster and wild flowers.
Mouth: a very oily delivery, something in between olive oil and a syrup. Verbena, mint and other herbs, mixing with flints and chalk. It doesn’t take long before it bursts open into maracuya, pink grapefruits and other fruits that wouldn’t be out of place in well-aged Bushmills. Mineral and fresh, with a light salty edge. Heaps of character.
Finish: long, on these gently bitter citrus notes, chalk and paraffin.
We’ve run out of conclusions for this kind of whisky. We know Ben Nevis filled some excellent casks in this era and we know TWJ has a nose to select them. Cask 1372 is still our favourite, but this is definitely on the same level. As the yield is relatively small, several TWJ retailers are running ballots as we speak.