Ben Nevis 19 Year (1999) Valinch & Mallet Hidden Casks Collection

Review by: zSolaris

Distillery: Ben Nevis.

Bottler: Valinch & Mallet.

Region: Highland.

Age: 19 Year. Distilled in 1999. Bottled in 2018.

ABV: 51.7%. Cask Strength.

Cask Type: Bourbon Hogshead.

Color: 1.6, Mahogany/Henna Notes. Natural Color and Non-Chill Filtered.

Nose: It’s quite….cheesy. First notes I got where of fresh ricotta cheese, still warm, or of milk starting to curdle because you’ve left it over heat for too long. Once you get past the cheese, there’s a yeasty/bready note. It reminds me of a certain flavor of bagel, but I can’t quite place it. There’s a light bit of earthiness as well.

Palate: There’s a bit of heat, but not unpleasant amounts of it. It’s fairly sweet. Malt leads the way followed notes of by toffee and chocolate. Some leather comes in towards the back. With a bit of water added, it gets a touch sweeter. Fruit jam on fresh toasted bread comes through as does more of the toffee and some caramel. The earthiness and chocolate notes combine to result in something that reminds me a lot of chocolate covered espresso beans.

Finish: Long. More of the fresh bread note comes through. Leather and chocolate covered espresso beans linger for quite a while.

Conclusion: Considering how badly the only other Valinch & Mallet bottling I had went, I was more than touch worried that this would go completely wrong as well. The nose had me the most worried, with a strong fresh cheese note coming through instantly. Thankfully, it plays well with the rest of the notes here and the folks at V&M have picked out a very pleasant and tasty Ben Nevis. It’s a nice mix of breadiness and sweet treats with a dash of earthiness, the chocolate covered espresso bean notes in particular fantastic. Would I buy a bottle? Probably.

Final Score: 85.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

Published by zSolaris

Unknown's avatar

Home is where the corn is! Or at least that's what I told the wife before moving her from sunny Southern California to the Midwest anyway. She doesn't share my love of scotch, the drink, but has been incredibly supportive of my little wander down the rabbit hole. We do both share a love of Scotch, our dog, though (she named him, I swear!). He's the cutie in the profile pic.

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