The Basics:
Do I recommend it?: Yes, ish. Could be a bit tricky to find these days, and it’s not worth a huge premium.
Availability: See below.
ABV: 46%
Presentation: Unspecified
General information: n/a
Bottling type: Proprietary
Character: Big, fruity and meaty.
Score: 91/100
The details:
Built in 1825 by the colorfully named “Long” John MacDonald, the distillery is the only one remaining in the west Highland town of Fort William. It takes its name from the eponymous nearby mountain (“Ben” being Scots Gaelic for mountain), the highest point in Britain. Long John’s son Peter expanded the distillery and built another distillery onsite, creating a thriving business. Even as tastes increasingly turned toward blends in the later 19th century, Ben Nevis continued to produce a popular malt whisky.
The facility’s history through much of the 20th century was checkered, with changes in ownership and periods of closure. Nikka, the distilling arm of the Japanese drinks firm Asahi Holdings, bought the distillery in 1989. Nowadays this shared ownership with one of the major players in the Japanese whisky industry shows in the shape of the bottle, which is identical to its eastern stablemates.
Most of the production at Ben Nevis is split between fillings for Japanese and Scottish blends, however a small portion is bottled as a single malt. It tends to fly a little under the radar of the wider whisky-drinking population, but its hefty spirit has some following among malt enthusiasts.
My own experience is somewhat limited, although I have some unopened bottles around, and one for which I haven’t yet organized formal tasting notes. Both this and a more limited official bottling I had were excellent; the other, currently unreviewed whisky…well, I’m not sure. In any event, this beast was a magnificent, heavy, fruity, meaty dram with a bit of smoke in the mix. My guess is that bottlings of this vintage are becoming pretty hard to find, outside auction; if you do come across one at auction in the $60-80 range, it is probably worth picking up, although I can’t recommend spending much over that on it. The current version of the 10 year old is pretty easily available from the usual online retailers for around $50-65, however, some reviews on Whiskybase suggest a noticeably different character, so…caveat emptor.
Ben Nevis 10, 46% abv
Bottling Information:
Expression: Ben Nevis 10
Bottler: Proprietor
Range: Core
Bottle Code: 2012/10/03 10:03 LBRF11010
Presentation: Unspecified
Details: n/a
Price: $50 (paid)
Availability: The current 10 year old, and various other expressions, are semi-reliably available through specialty retailers in the UK. Not sure how similar the current bottling is to this, which can likely be found at auction for a bit of a premium.
Distillery Information:
Region: Highlands (Western)
Location: Fort William, Inverness-shire
Geography: Inland
Date Founded: 1825
Owner: Asahi Holdings
Website: https://www.bennevisdistillery.com/
Capacity: 1,500,000
Plant Summary: MASH TUN: Lauter; WASHBACKS: 6 steel, 2 pine; STILLS: 4; HEAT SOURCE: Steam; CONDENSER: Shell and Tube
Total expressions sampled: 3
Overall distillery score: n/a
Tasting notes:
Nose: Big and bruised—ripe fruit. Bananas. Apricots? Prunes? Melon? Meaty. Rich. Trace of sulphur.
Body: Medium to full; chewy, syrupy.
Palate: Huge, meaty; undertone of peat smoke. Overpowering and beefy. BBQ—pulled pork? Rich and sherried. Cough lozenge, traces of black licorice. Sea salt with chocolate? Powerful and complex.
Finish: Long, drying. Iron. Tobacco.
Score: 91/100
Who should buy it?: People looking to round out an auction session with something interesting and exciting…although…if you prefer “smooth” whisky, or very subtle, gentle whisky, this one might not be your cup of tea.
Overall thoughts: A big, heavy duty Highlander. Not remotely subtle, but complex and to my palate, thoroughly enjoyable.
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Whisky Considered 