What they say

15 year old Ben Nevis single malt Scotch whisky, bottled as part of the Pearls of Scotland range. The Ben Nevis distillers put this one into cask #45 in the winter of 1997, and left it to age until autumn 2013, when it was bottled with an outturn of 282 bottles.

What I say

In my recent tastings I have been trying to pair or group whiskies together to cross-compare, and also make my life easier by for example sampling a range from the same distillery to explore both commonalities and differences between expressions. Occasionally however I have something odd or random that just doesn’t fit together with the others or as in this case I come across something from a distillery I like and was seduced by the colour of this one. An Indie sherried Ben Nevis – yes please.

It is all too easy to get sucked into reviewing the never ending stream of PR samples and new releases and forget that sometimes it is nice to remind myself that I drink whisky because I enjoy it. Also it’s ok to sample/review something that just piques my interest. I should probably comment here that, like most established whisky bloggers/writers I have such a liquid backlog it would take me years to get through. Therefore I really don’t feel the need to just say nice things about #gifted or PR whisky samples to keep that tap trickling. However, if you do question my honesty/integrity then you’re probably reading the wrong blog. Rant over, here’s a freakin’ awesome looking Ben Nevis to get my tastebuds back on the road…

• ABV 51.8%
• Age 15 Years Old
• Bottler Gordon & Company
• Bottling Pearls of Scotland Cask 45
• Cask Sherry
• Category Single malt Scotch whisky
• Cost £sold out
• Origin Ben Nevis Distillery
• Outturn 282 Bottles
• Region Highland
• Released 2013
• Vintage 1997

My tasting notes

• Appearance Dark ruby gold (15/20), medium tears and legs.
• Nose Oaked and musty, raisin, spiced, sherry, tannic wood, heady red fruits, toffee, meaty and a little sulphuric, peppery, black forest gateaux.
• Taste Dried fruits and woody oak lead, raisins, some darker chocolate, Plum duff, black cherries, liqourice root, peppery, marmalade/valencia oranges, malt or fruit loaf, spicy and vegetal, blackcurrant, tobbacco leaf, cedar wood and malt extract.
• Finish Medium-long, black pepper, raisin and tannic oak wood.
• Overall Very sherried, I suspect a 1st fill perhaps? This one is actually a little too intense at cask strength but with water this releases a lot of dark fruits and relaxes the tannins on the palate.

Score 85/100

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