A fast Ben Nevis session, all from the spectacular shares by Whisky AGE in Taiwan. They’re all from the 1996 classic, which often units excessive expectations.
Ben Nevis 27 yo 1996 (46,9%, The Whisky Blues for Bro Whisky 2024, hogshead #1639, 244 btl.)
Nostril: traditional chalk, uncooked wool and sunflower oil. Hints of candy mustard and lemon juice, possibly even a touch of unripe tropical fruit and custard cream, breaking the austere theme. Then additionally a contemporary coastal be aware, spearmint and waxy hints. Reasonably excellent.
Mouth: a wedding of Springbank and Ben Nevis. Lemon eau-de-vie, blended with sweeter mango and papaya, in addition to gentle hints of maracuya syrup. Tangerines and floral honey. Delicate hints of coconut cream. Additionally loads of wax, with gentle oak spice, verbena and a gentle chalky dryness in direction of the top.
End: lengthy, now again in direction of grapefruit, chalk and mustard, however at all times with these tropical parts within the distance.
Hooray. We’ve had nice casks within the #16xx sequence, displaying this fairly Irish mixture of tropical fruits and the everyday austere aspect. Simply glorious whisky, so effectively carried out, bro! (make sure you learn on, there’s a sister cask on the finish)
Ben Nevis 27 yo 1996 (48,7%, The Whisky Blues + Whisky Picnic Bar 2023, hogshead #1376, 222 btl.)
Nostril: a extra lactic instance, with good guava and ripe banana beneath. Then golden apples, almonds, waxes and a touch of white pepper. Delicate sea spray, however much less shiny than the primary one. With time it develops extra tropical notes.
Mouth: extra waxy than #1639, however once more fantastically tropical. Tangerines, papaya, with grapefruit and spearmint. Dried flowers and pink bananas. Then a soda or tonic be aware, in addition to gentle powder sugar, leaving a bittersweet impression ultimately.
End: medium to lengthy, with linseed oil, gentle grassy notes and a touch of IPA.
One other actually good one, however as quickly as I went again to #1639 it was clear that this #1376 is extra angular, with a barely extra bitter footprint. It suffers from comparability, in a special session this may occasionally have reached the 90 mark. Rating: 89/100
Ben Nevis 26 yo 1996 (53,2%, The Whisky Blues 2022, refill hogshead #1694, 169 btl.)
Nostril: a light-weight trace of vanilla at first, rapidly adopted by extra classical markers. Wool, chalk, ink and loads of minerals. Yellow fruits, possibly melon and lightweight honey. Near #1639 however barely much less expressive.
Mouth: the Irish profile once more, with ardour fruits at its core, in addition to mango and honey. Barely capped although, by gin-like spice and sharper lemons and grapefruits. Then some grassy touches and hints of inexperienced tea.
End: medium to lengthy. There’s unripe tangerine, inexperienced apple, with just a bit wooden spice.
When it comes to tropical fruits this one sits the center between the opposite two. It folds open properly and it’s very straightforward to love, however I nonetheless desire the bottling for Bro Whisky. Rating: 90/100
