After Monday’s five Ben Nevis review, the week devoted to this distillery continues with four more independent bottlings. The lineup includes two young 2012 Ben Nevis releases from Dràm Mòr and Elixir Distillers, a slightly older 2009 from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and a 1997 from Spirits Shop, taking us closer to the much-discussed 1996 vintage that will be the focus on Friday.
Ben Nevis 2012 Dràm Mòr (2021) Review
This is an independently bottled Ben Nevis distilled in 2012 and released by Dràm Mòr in 2021 as a 9-year-old single-cask whisky. It spent 8 years and 9 months in refill bourbon wood before receiving a short, three-month finish in a first-fill Palo Cortado sherry cask; it was then bottled at 53% ABV from cask no. 115, with an outturn of 351 bottles. This release is unfortunately sold out.
Colour:
Chestnut.
Nose:
Neat: The nose begins with a crisp, tart and relatively dry sherry influence rather than thick sweetness. There is a nice acidity, with dried red fruits and raspberry purée, apples and oranges. A light salinity intertwines with a soft earthy funkiness, malty and hoppy IPA beer, chalk and a little bit of wax.
With water: Reduction reveals fresh notes of mint tea and aniseed, dried herbs and tangerines.
Palate:
Neat: The palate is punchy and relatively straightforward: red berries, cherries, menthol and aniseed, sage and laurel, pickles, walnuts, and roasted chestnuts dipped in buttermilk. Then, pickled ginger slices, orange juice and lemon peel, honey, vanilla and oak spices.
With water: The palate becomes sweeter and more rounded. Lemon curd, brown sugar, and oak spices again but pricklier and more tannic, orange sweets and white pepper.
Finish:
The finish is relatively long, with aniseed boiled sweets (gosh I miss those), tangy oranges, dark chocolate, walnut bread and an ever so slight smokiness.
Comments:
This is a really nice Ben Nevis, where the short Palo Cortado finish brought a light and balanced oxidative sherry touch, while preserving the freshness brought by the main maturation in an ex-bourbon cask. The result is tasty, young but round enough, and an easy-drinking ABV.
Rating: 6.5/10
Ben Nevis 2012 The Single Malts of Scotland Elixir Distillers (2022) Review
Ben Nevis releases appear through often from several ranges from Elixir Distillers, including The Single Malts of Scotland, Reserve Casks and Whisky Trail. This single hogshead, #47362, was filled in 2012 and emptied in 2022, giving an unknown number of bottles filled at what probably is cask strength (57.8% ABV). Information is scarce about this specific cask, and I cannot verify if it was bottled with or without chill filtration and added colour. And since it seems also sold out, it will be tough to get precise information. I couldn’t even find a good picture of that very cask, so below is a picture of a bottle from a sister cask.
Colour:
Yellow gold.
Nose:
Neat: core Ben Nevis combination of oily malt, wax, minerals, cereal, fresh fruit and a faintly rugged industrial character. Comparable 2012 Elixir selections show honey, warm malt, dried grass, mineral/chalk notes and restrained coastal salinity, joined by lemon peel, orange, green apple, melon and mango.
With water: More wax, malt and mineral notes of limestone and chalk. Apples, pear and vanilla.
Palate:
Neat: full-bodied, oily and malt-led. Typical notes include honeyed cereal, crème caramel, vanilla, toffee, caramel, chocolate, almonds and a slightly waxy or mineral texture.
At around 58% ABV, the palate of cask 47362 will likely show more intensity than Elixir’s 48% Reserve Cask edition: citrus oil, pepper, ginger, oak spices, herbs and a more pronounced alcoholic heat are plausible. Comparable 2012 bottlings show fruit ranging from lemon/orange to mango, honeydew melon and dried mango, with Ben Nevis’s more savoury side appearing as iodine, chalk, dried grass, subtle smoke, undergrowth and umami.
With water: Creamy and citrusy, ginger, herbal notes, custard and toffee.
Finish:
The finish is medium long or long, retaining citrus peel, ginger, pepper, light oak spices and the distillery’s oily, herbal and mineral aftertaste.
Comments:
A very good Ben Nevis, showing a slightly fresher, more summery profile than the Dràm Mòr bottling. It also has a little more weight and drive on the palate, which gives it a more complete feel overall. A very good young Ben Nevis.
Rating: 7/10
Ben Nevis 2009 SMWS 78.56 Complex and multi-faceted (2022) Review
Next, we have a Ben Nevis 2009 bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society back in 2022 I think, under the number 78.56 (do I need to remind you than 78 means the 78th distillery bottled by the SMWS, Ben Nevis, and 56 is the 56th cask bottled for that distillery? No? Good) and the name ‘Complex and multi-faceted’. This 12-year-old was distilled on the 3rd of September 2009 and filled into a first-fill ex-bourbon barrel, before giving 194 bottles filled at a hefty cask strength of 63.2% ABV, without chill filtration nor added colour. This release is sold out.
Colour:
Jonquille.
Nose:
Neat: The nose is sweet, round and dessert-like, centred on orange, honey, white almonds and creamy vanilla, giving the nose a gentle confectionery quality. Some orchard fruits join, with peaches and pears, but also a light solvent-like aroma of white spirit and hints of tabasco.
With water: The nose becomes a bit tropical after reduction, introducing lemon and maracuja juice, and the solvent sharpness is toned down.
Palate:
Neat: The palate is quite hot, which is to be expected at 63.2% ABV, but without being excessively so. Orange flower blossom water, creamy vanilla, pastry dough, pancakes, muscovado sugar, sponge cake covered with almond slices, and hazelnuts, with a light woody bitterness, pepper and tabasco sauce again. The mouthfeel is creamy and slightly drying.
With water: The palate becomes even creamier and waxier, with a nice citrusy tartness and a tad more woody bitterness – but still nicely balanced, rose water and honey.
Finish:
The finish is long, with pepper, pickled ginger slices, cookie dough, milk chocolate chunks, creamy vanilla and light oak tannins, and a lingering warmth in the mouth.
Comments:
A fresh, clean Ben Nevis with a creamy, gently sweet profile and well-controlled power. It is less funky than some expressions from the distillery, but that restraint works in its favour, giving the whisky a composed and highly enjoyable character, and a dangerous easiness to drink.
Rating: 7/10
Ben Nevis 1997 Spirits Shop’ Selection (2023) Review
We end today’s session with a 25-year-old Ben Nevis, distilled in 1997 and bottled in 2023 by Spirits Shop’ Selection, the independent-bottling arm associated with Taiwan’s Spirits Shop. It was drawn from a single hogshead, cask no. 598, and bottled at 47.6% ABV, with an outturn of 252 bottles. This release is still available in Germany at Whisky Maniac and Dein Whisky, around €320–330 a bottle.
Colour:
Jonquille.
Nose:
Neat: The nose is mature, sweet and fruit-led, but with substantial oak influence, but requires patience and aeration. Then, it features stewed fruit, Seville orange marmalade, milk chocolate, and oak spice, with light aromas of tropical and yellow orchard fruit: mango, pineapple, passion fruit, peach, apricot, melon and ripe pear. The fruit is supported by a creamy, confectionery register of vanilla, honey, fudge, custard and white chocolate. Wax, polished wood, old furniture, leather, tobacco and a light mineral note as well.
Palate:
Neat: The palate is rich and sweetly structured, but it feels a little thin after the SMWS. Toffee is joined by orange marmalade, milk chocolate, stewed fruit and oak spices. Then, honey, vanilla, crème brûlée, caramel, fudge, citrus oil, peaches, apricots, pineapple, mango, papaya and ripe pear mirror the nose, but not just, as the palate also carries wax, herbs, mineral notes, mild bitterness, pepper, ginger, nutmeg and tannic oak.
Finish:
The finish is long, with orange marmalade, ripe tropical and orchard fruit, honey, toffee, chocolate, wax and gentle spice lingering after the sip. Oak becomes more apparent toward the end, bringing dryness, mild bitterness, pepper, tobacco, leather and old wood.
Comments:
Spirits Shop has selected a superb Ben Nevis, with tropical notes like the famed 1996 vintage (but fear not, as we’ll review a few of those on Friday!). If the alcohol is a little low, which has some impact on the mouthfeel, a little thin, it does not on the nose and taste, and both are stunning, nor on the long finish, flavourful as well. If I had to be nitpicky, I would say a little less vanilla sweetness and a little more oomph would have raised it closer to a 9/10, but this is superb enough to warrant a well deserved 8/10.
Rating: 8/10
Thanks Martin!