Ben Nevis McDonald's Traditional, limited edition (2012)

In 2012, Ben Nevis distillery released an NAS single malt modeled to harken back to their whisky from 130 years earlier. Its limited 700-bottle outturn came with weathered-looking labels, a stamped bottle number and the distillery manager's signature.

What's funny is that no one could ever accuse Ben Nevis of producing a contemporary style of single malt. There's always been an old feeling to their whisky, with its warts-and-all, variable style. Perhaps the owners, Nikka/Asahi, wanted a piece of the peated-NAS whisky market. And indeed the whisky was pulled from their limited ~35ppm peated spirit runs.

The first edition sold so well that the McDonald's Traditional was rereleased (with a five year old age statement) as an unnumbered part of the distillery's range. That version is currently being sold at many European whisky retailers and even at a few American shops.

For reasons lost on me, a store in California was carrying a numbered first edition 700mL bottle. So I bought it. After collecting dust in my whisky closet for nearly four years, it is now being opened in honor of this Ben Nevisfull month.

Many thanks to Kristen for taking the photos!

Distillery: Ben Nevis
Ownership: Nikka Whisky Distilling Company (part of Asahi Group Holdings)
Region: Highlands (Western)
Age: not stated, though the subsequent edition is 5 years old
Maturation: ???
Bottle #: 650 of 700
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(from my bottle)

NEAT
Its color is very dark, very possibly because it is bottled "mit farbstoff". This seems out of step with the "130 years ago" theme. The nose is full of metals and mosses. Dark chocolate and mint. New plastic toys, sugary peat and a hint of butterscotch. The palate is framed within a strong herbal bitterness. Burnt nuts, soot and ash. Smoky caramel sauce. Overall, it gets sweeter with time, but the bitterness and smoke stay in the lead. Bitter ashy peat and tart lemons in the finish. Mild sweetness, tingly heat, a good length.

DILUTED TO ~43%abv
The nose gets dirtier, harsher, narrower. Sugary peat remains. A hint of white peach. But the sooty, dingy notes are pushed back in the palate. It's sweeter, less bitter. Some cinnamon and nutmeg. The finish is shorter and simpler. Tingly, bitter and sweet.

DILUTED TO ~40%abv
Heavy peat in the nose, reminiscent of Kilchoman. Lemon zest and mint candy. The palate is similar to that of the 43%abv sampling. More pepper. Thinner. Not much going on in the finish. Pepper, peat, bitter.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
My notes may not read as such, but this was decent whisky when neat. It's unromantic, punchy stuff. Water does bring out some interesting moments, though primarily in the nose. Otherwise, it doesn't want to swim.

At first glance, the whisky seems to take occasionally edginess of Ben Nevis and then cranks it up. But after further contemplation, I wonder if most of that is due to young heavily peated spirit being aged in refill barrels. Yes, whisky makers did such things 130 years ago, but Ben Nevis wasn't alone in that approach. In fact, today's independent bottlers are cranking out refill barrel-aged young peated whisky at a pretty constant rate right now, with mixed results.

The good news is that this is better than most of the immature face burners I've tried. In fact, I wouldn't even call this one immature. This one was supposed to be a fighter, and it is.

Availability - Whisky specialist retailers in US and Europe
Pricing - $50-$120

Rating - 82

Ben Nevis 24 year old 1991 Signatory, cask 3833

Two parties remain at the end of this Ben Nevis series: those who enjoyed this exploration, and those who did not. The former group is likely a party of one. Me!

But wait, there's more! There's one final review next week, when I open an actual Ben Nevis bottle of my own. The whisky's style is expected to be quite different than the other BNs from this month. This is still exciting, see!

I'm ending the dozen regular reviews with the oldest of the bunch. Its from Signatory's Cask Strength Collection. You know, those bottles that look snazzy but are a pain in the ass to pour from? I do not have a 700mL bottle of this whisky, but I wish I did.

Distillery: Ben Nevis
Region: Highlands (Western)
Independent Bottler: Signatory Vintage
Range: Cask Strength
Age: 24 years old (October 29, 1991 to January 22, 2016)
Maturation: sherry butt
Bottles: 566
Cask: 3833
Alcohol by Volume: 54.7%
(from a purchased sample)

NEAT
Its color is light gold with a reddish hue. Its nose weaves three delightful threads, flawlessly. First: moss and black smoke. Second: cinnamon and coffee. Third: cherries, plums, peaches and mangoes! It also has a very Yamazaki 18yo note of sherry-soaked mizunara oak. The palate starts with a big note of tart fruits, along with toasted oak, toasted barely, bitter smoke and bitter coffee with rich sherry licking at the edges. After more than 20 minutes, tropical fruit juices flood in, carrying liquid honey and molasses. Its final act reveals toffee, salted almonds, cherry syrup, bitter smoke, lemons, mangoes and peat moss.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I was all, "This is pretty good", then the whisky was like, "Mangoes", then I went, "What!". True story.

One could say that this is a cousin of good ol' Ardmore, but I've never had an Ardmore behave so well in a sherry cask. One may also suggest it has hints of beloved '60s and '70s Longmorn, but then there's the peat.

It's harmony. Take that, Suntory. If you have a bottle from this cask, then ffffffffffff......fine. Happy Friday to you.

Availability - A few retailers in continental Europe, maybe
Pricing - around €150

Rating - 92 (best of this BN bunch)

Ben Nevis 23 year old 1991 Signatory UCF Collection, cask 2916

This week's final Ben Nevises are from a pair of Signatory single casks that cradled spirit born in 1991. Tomorrow's will be from Signatory's Cask Strength Collection. Today's BN is from Signatory's Un-Chillfiltered Collection, those skinny bottles with the white labels that instantly won me over during a more impressionable phase of my whisky life. It's still a very reliable range, with a solid presentation (46%abv, no chill filtration, no colorant added) and a limited amount of carpentry involved in the maturation of the final products.

Distillery: Ben Nevis
Region: Highlands (Western)
Independent Bottler: Signatory Vintage
Range: Un-Chillfiltered Collection
Age: 23 years (August 16, 1991 to May 7, 2015)
Maturation: sherry butt
Cask: 2916
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(from a purchased sample)

NEAT
Its color is a surprisingly light amber. There's so much barley in the nose, all up front, flashing its stuff. Then iodine and gentle smoke. Peaches, orange candy and cantaloupe. Just a hint of mezcal in the background. The palate is also big on barley. Somewhat bready. Black grease and dunnage; more Clynelish-ish than Springbank-ish. A little bit of peach candy and lemon juice. More bitterness than sweetness, arriving often as bitter smoke. After 20 minutes in the glass, it picks up some nutty sherry and hay. The finish has a medium length, full of barley and lemons. A splash of herbal liqueur. Small notes of industrial chimney, plastic and hay.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Pretty solid dirty Highlands stuff. Sometimes it's quite youthful. There was a lightness to it that kept me from adding water. And there's zero heat at 46%abv, making it an easy sipper if suits your style. Not a whole lot to complain about, but I find myself in no rush to hunt down a bottle. Maybe I've started to set my Ben Nevis expectations even higher now. Or maybe I made the mistake of tasting this whisky next to cask 3833...

Availability - A few retailers in continental Europe, maybe
Pricing - around €100

Rating - 85

Ben Nevis 20 year old 1992 Signatory, cask 2314

In yesterday's review of cask 2310, my expectations of a richly sherried Ben Nevis were vaporized by the reality of a intensely tart, mineral, herbal whisky.

As I've been doing throughout this Ben Nevis series, I tasted two Ben Nevises side by side to gain perspective on each. In this case, I tried cask 2310 and 2314. They're both 20 year old Ben Nevises, matured in single sherry butts, bottled by Signatory, distilled on the same day in 1992 and bottled in 2013. And there's only 0.1 point difference in their ABVs. Yet cask 2310 turned out 623 bottles worth of whisky, while 2314 produced only 433.

Let's see how (or if) these factors resulted in different whiskies.

Distillery: Ben Nevis
Region: Highlands (Western)
Independent Bottler: Signatory Vintage
Range: Cask Strength
Age: 20 years (July 3, 1992 to April 10, 2013)
Maturation: sherry butt
Bottles: 433
Cask: 2314
Alcohol by Volume: 55.4%
(from a purchased sample)

NEAT
The nose is earthy and herbal, with small notes of horse manure and crumbly autumn leaves. There are also moments of dark chocolate, charred beef and uncooked bacon. There are stone fruits, raspberry jam and lemon surface cleaner. The palate has a nice balance of pepper, tartness, soft sweetness and mild minerals. There are hints of raspberry jam and plum wine, but not as sugary as that sounds. Some mint leaves, bitter soot, toasted oak spices and maybe some rye. The lean but long finish is plenty peppery and herbal, with some good bitterness. A little bit of fruity sweetness and dried berries show up late.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv
The nose has brighter fruit notes, especially some bright lemon zest. Yet it also registers a little bit meatier. A hint of iodine in the background. The palate is similar to the neat version. Some more limes. A little bit of dry sherry. More black pepper. A moldy dunnage note appears in the finish, along with pepper, tart fruity and a subtle sweetness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Had I tried this one on its own, I probably would have remarked on its austerity and sharpness. But next to cask 2310, this almost registers as a crowd pleaser. While I don't actually think it's a crowd pleaser, it does have more fruits and sweetness. There's a good balance to it, and it swims well. The difference between the two may be linked to the extra evaporation in cask 2314, or different placement in the warehouse, or a zillion other mysterious chemical factors played out over twenty years.

Cask 2314 produced great whisky. Whether this cask is better than 2310 depends on one's palate and mood. While 2310's finish was excellent, 2314's balance and complexity win out. It's a near draw. One point difference in scores is piffle, really.

Availability - ???
Pricing - probably close to €120

Rating - 89

Ben Nevis 20 year old 1992 Signatory, cask 2310

Two years ago, at a whisky event with a parliament of LA's whisky geeks, I joined a conversation about which distilleries' spirits tend to work best in sherry casks. When I asked some very knowledgable folks, "What kind of magical fairy dust is Signatory sprinkling into their Ben Nev--", I was cut off with one "SHHHH", followed by a "Zip It".

I am here to tell you why I got shushed. Not only did the Symingtons of Signatory acquire what may been the lion's share of 1991 and 1992 Ben Nevis sherry butts, but the resulting whiskies have been very well received.

Now, there have been more than 40 of these single casks and because I (sadly) cannot try all of them, I can't say they're all great, and I have no idea how the newest ones fare. But after I review four of them this week, that will bring my total sampled up to eleven.

First up is a pair of 1992s. Cask 2310 today and cask 2314 tomorrow.

Distillery: Ben Nevis
Region: Highlands (Western)
Independent Bottler: Signatory Vintage
Range: Cask Strength
Age: one day short of 21 years? (July 3, 1992 to July 2, 2013)
Maturation: sherry butt
Bottles: 623
Cask: 2310
Alcohol by Volume: 55.5%
(from a purchased sample)

NEAT
The nose delivers a surprise early, starting out with a combination of new carpet, plastic, soil, walnuts and sharp cheddar. Over a period of 20+ minutes it shifts gears. Malt, lemon, brine, fresh herbs (tarragon?), hot concrete, tissues and hints of black raisins and cocoa. The palate is massively mineral. There's also plenty of very dry sherry. Limes and oranges with a hint of soot. A hammering of hot horseradish. Even though it picks up bits of toffee pudding and cherries after 30 minutes, the whole thing is unforgiving. A "blade", as I'm sure Serge would call it. Minerals, jalapeño oil, tart lemons and a few familiar sherry-ish dried fruits in the intense finish.

Wow. Will water wear it down?

DILUTED TO ~46%abv
While the hot concrete and green herbs remain in the nose, notes of dried apricot and gumdrops shine a wee light on things. It also picks up brisk notes of fresh ginger and charred beef. The palate remains lean and sharp. A basket of tart limes. Herbs. Plastic. Just a hint of dried fruit sweetness, but otherwise it's the driest mineral(est) white wine you can imagine. The finish keeps its length. And minerals. And pepper oil. More limes than lemons. A whiff of sherry.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
A split stone with jagged edges. Approach carefully. But if you're in the mood for this style, it cuts right.

It was not at all what I was expecting, but it's the type of whisky that leaves no room for "hey, what about..." or "what if...". One accepts it on its own terms. And it sold me. The finish, especially, is dynamite. Now, about cask 2314...

Availability - A few retailers in continental Europe
Pricing - €120-€130

Rating - 88

Ben Nevis 18 year old 1996 First Cask, cask 1493

When one sees the term "refill sherry butt" on a single cask whisky's label, one doesn't actually know what one is going to get. There are some refill butts that seem to have been totally stripped of life, while others appear to have been dripping with fortified wine. This isn't just a difference between a second-fill and fourth-fill, it also has to do with how long the previous whisky(s) sat in the cask. Or — this is mere conjecture — some re-soaked the cask with sherry.

The OMC Ben Nevis I reviewed yesterday came from a "sherry butt". The term "refill" wasn't used, but it isn't legally required. The resulting whisky was an edgy, spirit-forward blast. Though today's Nevis was aged in a refill sherry butt, it resulted in a whisky rich with sherry and (European?) oak.

This is also an example of a whisky bottle I almost bought blindly, but I instead settled for a 60mL sample.

Distillery: Ben Nevis
Region: Highlands (Western)
Independent Bottler: Whisky Import Nederland
Range: First Cask
Age: 18 years old (October 21, 1996 to March 25, 2015)
Maturation: refill sherry butt
Bottles: 450
Cask: 1493
Alcohol by Volume: 55%
(from a purchased sample)

NEAT
Yes, the nose. Here comes the list: chocolate, dried apricots, mint gum, anise, yellow plums, pine, hints of mushroom and wood smoke. Reminiscent of some of those oaky cask strength armagnacs suddenly hitting the US shores. The palate is very fruity, like plums and Rainier cherries. Honey, dark chocolate, a little bit of salt and an intense tart candy sizzle. The plummy finish also has cocoa, cherry juice, tart limes and a puff of wood smoke.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv
The nose leads with cherry ice cream and toffee pudding. Then some barley, vanilla, limes and pine. The palate holds a balance of sweet and bitter with a hint of smoke. Fruits and herbs. Peaches and dried currants. A little bit of cayenne pepper heat. Those dried herbs stay for the finish, along with some dry smoke, dried fruit, tart fruit and toffee.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
It's a very big, but easily consumable whisky that swims very well. It's much more huggable than the OMC from yesterday, though some may argue that any malt (like, say, Kavalan) can take up this style with a rich sherry cask. To that I'd say, yeah, often true. But this still balances salt/tart/bitter/sweet/smoke better than most. So there was certainly good storage and cask management also going on. Plus, damn, those fresh fruits. I don't find those in just any sherry cask. But the occasional Ben Nevis sherry cask? Yes.

More sherry cask BNs on the way, next week.

Availability - A few Continental European retailers
Pricing - around €115

Rating - 89

Ben Nevis 19 year old 1996 Old Malt Cask, cask 12148

Next up in this month-long Ben Nevis series are a pair of independently bottled 1996 sherry casks. It has been enlightening trying two Nevises side-by-side each time. In this instance, these two casks sit at either end of the sherried Ben Nevis spectrum, from sharp to cuddly.

First off, it's a Hunter Laing release, a sherry butt courtesy of Old Malt Cask.

Distillery: Ben Nevis
Region: Highlands (Western)
Independent Bottler: Hunter Laing
Range: Old Malt Cask
Age: 19 years old (June 1996 to November 2015)
Maturation: sherry butt
Bottles: 572
Cask: HL12148
Alcohol by Volume: 50%
(from a purchased sample)

NEAT
The nose is loaded with moss and grapefruit. Nutty dry sherry and an old blend's mustiness. Dill and dried leaves. Metallic dust and rust, rather than smoke. The palate is VERY herbal, backed with equal parts cigarette and peat smoke. Limes, toffee and a hint of vanilla bean. A bracing rush of tart and bitter, but in a good way (for those who like the style). The lime and peat notes expand with time. The finish has a significant mineral and metallic edge. Cigarette smoke, light sweetness and a bitter bouquet.

DILUTED TO ~43%abv
A good balance on the nose. Dried leaves, salty ocean air, toffee and raisins. The palate is slightly sweeter, though still has its sharp bitter side. More citrus (lemons and grapefruit), fewer herbs. Maybe some more smoke. Old blend metallic funk. It finishes a little sweeter. Lemons and grapefruit. Moldy dunnage.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Tart, bitter, metal, mineral, herbal, leafy, smoky, moldy, funky. Even when dilution sweetens it up, the whisky doesn't let go of its dirty soul. This Nevis is for specific palates, and proudly so.

Tomorrow, the other side of the mountain.

Availability - A retailer somewhere in Europe, maybe?
Pricing - just north of €100

Rating - 87