The Whisky Exchange Ben Nevis 1992-2020 23 Year Old Cask #1709 [Tasted #614]

Given my love of Ben Nevis (and how often I post / talk about them on Instagram), I really should post a few more tasting notes on this blog. So in an attempt to pad out the Nevis quota before the end of the year, here's a Whisky Exchange bottling kindly donated by a Hong Kong whisky mate, the talented Damoo from The Whisky Journey (IG / FB).

Distilled in 1996 (of course), this one was bottled from a single Hogshead in 2020 at 23yo & 52.1% ABV. The Whisky Exchange have a number of whisky ranges through their Elixir Distillers company, but I've always had good ones from this label, so it came high expectations...

Ben Nevis 1996 - 2020 Cask #1709 bottled by The Whisky Exchange (52.1% ABV, 23yo, One of 205 bottles, Highlands, no longer available)
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Colour: Yellow straw

Nose: Lemon tart and butter menthols, followed by peach, pear and stewed apple.

Palate: Follows the nose, with an initial fruitiness, but more pear, heather, and a very slight grassy funk. I wouldn't call it tropical (though there is a little candied grapefruit) - more honey and stone fruits, but it's a wonderfully delicious dram.

Finish: Long, with heather, honey and orange slices.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 92/100 (Martin). Up there with the better 1996s.

Cheers,

Martin.

Adelphi Selection Ben Nevis 1996-2019 22 Year Old [Tasted #589]

Another day, another tasty 1996 Ben Nevis...this one from one of my favourite Indie Bottlers - Adelphi, bottled in 2019 from a re-fill sherry cask at 22 years old.

Source: The Whisky Shop

Adelphi Selection Ben Nevis 1996-2019 22yo (55% ABV, 22yo, 1 of 205 bottles, Highlands, Scotland, no longer available)

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Colour: Orange gold.

Nose: Tropical and funk - two great Nevis traits (in this case, a little heavier on the tropical side - no bad thing). Lemon, lime, mango, a slight salinity and hints of paprika spice and oak.

Palate: Fruit spice, mince fruit pies, mango chutney and grilled BBQ pineapple, with some guava to round it out, and a nice subtle oak undertone.

Finish: Long, mango spice.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. Just delicious.

Cheers,

Martin.

Ben Nevis 1996-2020 (The Whisky Agency) TWA Spring 2020 Release [Tasted #584]

If you follow us on @TimeforWhisky on Instagram, you might know I'm a massive Ben Nevis fan, especially casks from the mid to late 1990s. For some reason I haven't posted many on the blog, but when reading through some old tasting notes (at least 400 of which I've never gotten around to posting!), I came across this 1996 Ben Nevis from The Whisky Agency, which ticked all the right boxes for me.

TWA releases are usually pretty high quality (sadly with price tags to match on the secondary market), so I was pretty confident this 1996 Ben Nevis (from a Hogshead) would be too, despite the lower ABV of 47.6%.

I wasn't disappointed...

The Whisky Agency Ben Nevis 1996-2020 (TWA Spring 2020 Release) (47.6% ABV, 23yo, 1 of 264 bottles, Highlands, Scotland, no longer available)

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Colour: Light yellow gold

Nose: Oooh yes, this is what I love in a Nevis. A tropical fruitbomb (or "Tropic Thunder" / "TT") Nevis! Peach, pear, rockmelon, overripe apples and bananas. Just awesome.

Palate: Passionfruit, peach and plum. A slight herbal-spiced earthiness, with some waxed Apple. Very much a typical 1996 Nevis, with a good dollop of tropical fruit on top.

Finish: Passionfruit and peach continue, with a residual vanilla cream. No residual oak tannins.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 92/100. Just absolutely delicious.

I really need to get onto these as they're released more often...

Cheers,

Martin.

Tasted #512 - 513: Sherried Ben Nevis showdown

Whilst whisky might not "follow vintage" the same way that wine does, there are definitely some whiskies distilled in certain periods which, in my view, stand out - be it due to changes in production methods, wood policy, cask sourcing/availability, or just plain old luck. 

Mid 1960s Bowmore is a well-known example. 1993 GlenDronach too. Late 2000's Caol Ila (ex-Bourbon) is a more recent one...and in my opinion, late 1990s Ben Nevis (1996 gets all the love, but don't look past 1995 and 1997).

I recently had two samples of Ben Nevis - one a 1996 "Small Batch" 21yo bottled for La Maison du Whisky, the other a 1997 Single Cask 19yo bottled by SMWS. What do you do when you have two similar, delicious whisky samples? Try them side-by-side of course!

Ben Nevis SMWS 78.41 "A Real Sherry Monster" 1997-2017 (57.1% ABV, 19yo, IB, Highlands, Scotland)
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Colour: Deep orange gold.

Nose: Rich creamy coffee grounds and red currants, followed by nutty chocolate Florentine. With water: more creaminess with hints of white chocolate.

Palate: Toffee, marzipan sweetness, then slightly metallic herbal notes and musk sticks. With water, the herbs become more pronounced.

Finish: Long, slightly tannic. Herbal mouthwash. With water, there are slightly less tannins but more herbs.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 88/100. A real mixed bag, with a lot going on. I liked it, but didn't love it the way I have some 1990s Ben Nevis.

Ben Nevis 21yo "Small Batch" for LMdW 1996-2018 (55.5% ABV, 21yo, OB, Highlands, Scotland)
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Colour: Dark copper-brown.

Nose: Deep rich sherry notes - dirty old leather books, herbal musk, dunnage warehouse. With water: some cola notes emerge.

Palate: Rich, velvety deep sherry notes - more of the leather and herbal musk, but adding raisins, coffee grounds and the tiniest hint of sulphur. With water: cola, more raisins and herbs.

Finish: Long, dark chocolate cherry.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 90/100. A bit more up my alley but I'd prefer to see a little less cask influence and a bit more spirit.

Cheers,

Martin.