Review by: The Muskox

Here’s another dram from my club’s Murray McDavid tasting. It’s a 25-year-old 1996 vintage, just like me!

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Distillery: Ben Nevis.

Bottler: Murray McDavid.

Region: Highlands.

ABV: 53.9%, cask strength.

Age: 25 years old. Distilled in 1996. Bottled in 2021.

Cask type: Cask #1582, Refill Hogshead.

Color: Bright gold. No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

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Nose: Earthy-malty-sweet. Oatcakes right up front. Not loads of fruit, but a complex fruit flavour: banana, fragrant citron peel, yellow plum, some mango, and hints of papaya and pineapple. A bit of a beeswax note. Creamy sweet flavours of chocolate milkshake, vanilla buttercream, and raw coconut. Something earthy, some hay, a bit grassy, almost a little sweaty (maybe that’s part of the papaya?). A hint of a brioche-y yeasty note. Quite a lot of passionfruit emerges as the whisky rests.

With water, it’s sweeter and more fragrant.

Palate: Medium-light texture, no heat. Arrives very fragrant with rich mango smoothie, strawberry, and very thick honey and beeswax. Long structured development, going through toasty oak, chocolate ganache, leather, and more wax. Robust overall. Hints of dried flowers and chalk.

Water adds pineapple and coconut, but cuts much the rest of the complexity.

Finish: Long and honey-sweet. Strong fragrant black tea. Peaches. Very creamy milk chocolate. Lingering black pepper. Basil and tulips.

Water lengthens everything, keeps it sweet, adds loads of pineapple.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Lassi Come Home”

Notes: This was delicious, but didn’t quite deliver on the promise of “well-aged 1996 Ben Nevis”. There’s great complexity and earthiness, creaminess, interesting floral notes, some unexpected but always welcome wax, and of course that tropical fruit. I’m not sure if I prefer it with water: the trade of tropical fruit for everything else isn’t necessarily a good one.

Final Score: 86.

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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.