The Whisky Trade and unbiased bottler Douglas Laing teamed up for this Ben Nevis 1996. It’s an unique launch within the black label collection, the premium subset of the already premium Xtra Previous Explicit vary from Douglas Laing.
Refill butts from this classic are sometimes glorious, so we’ve got excessive hopes. For a butt the outturn is sort of small, however we’ve seen that earlier than.
Ben Nevis 28 yo 1996 (52,8%, Douglas Laing XOP for The Whisky Trade 2024, refill butt, 208 btl.)
Nostril: smells like Amontillado at first. A mix of hay, salty air, dried herbs and bruised apples. Over time it additionally develops a pleasant fruity observe – suppose melons, apricots and orange peels. Then refined waxy notes, hints of chilly espresso, walnut bitterness and freshly printed newspaper. A little bit of bread and putty too. I’m not a fan of an excessive amount of sherry in Ben Nevis, however that is good.
Mouth: raisin sweetness with toasty notes and the trademark fatty texture. Peaches and oranges, together with drier and extra austere notes like mustard, inexperienced walnuts and pepper. Some tropical components too, though it’s much less exuberant than another 1996s. Then nutmeg, herbs and chalky touches, together with and citrus peels.
End: lengthy, mineral, with natural tea and tobacco leaves, a little bit of salt, oak spice and apple sweetness.
Actually good: actually much less tropical than I hoped, however the excessive complexity makes up for many of that. As an alternative you get fascinating Amontillado notes, suggesting this was an previous Fino butt? Typical ideosyncratic Ben Nevis, albeit with a twist. Advisable. Solely accessible from The Whisky Trade.
