Ben Nevis 23 Single Cask Nation 1996 2nd fill ex-bourbon #1839

1996 Ben Nevis have become famed for their massive tropical fruit notes and the prices for 1996 Ben Nevis just keep climbing higher and higher. But this release came out several years ago and was much more reasonably in the $225 range.

Country/Region: Scotland/Highlands  

Color: 0.6 old gold  

ABV: 50.4%  

Nose: Immediate impressions of fruit and earth, funk, a bit of smoke and spice, very typical Ben Nevis, but not so far from a Springbank either.  The difference in is oiliness.  Apples, pear, vanilla, loam, a bit of cinnamon, passion fruit, grapefruit, clove and a dash of smoke, some caramel and tobacco and in deep in it, a bit of raw wheat flour.

Palate: Grapefruit, apple juice, cinnamon, ginger, guava, lemon, green banana, white pepper, barley sugar, loam, thyme, and a lovely vanilla-caramel crème brûlée note develops deeper in the palate and then it develops into earthy loam, some general spiciness like white pepper or chili pepper that binds with that earthiness.  There is a bit of peaty smoke lingering in there as well, though this isn’t peated.

Finish: long but medium intensity with guava, ginger, white pepper, barley sugar, vanilla, apple, green bananas and smoke in the background and a long tail of rich honey.

Rating: 87  

Summary: Quite solid. It’s an interesting contrast with the SMoS style over many bottles to see the way these two groups tend to lean when selecting casks as it would seem they’re often selecting from the same parcel.  SCN tend towards a bit more grip or spice in their selections.

Ben Nevis 24 Single Malts of Scotland 1996 2nd fill ex-bourbon #1730

More 1996 Ben Nevis! This one from the folks at SMoS and they tend to pick a slightly different style from the good folks at SCN. Despite both having very similar specs this could be a totally different beast. I’ve been quite fortunate to try this bottling on several occasions.

Country/Region: Scotland/Highlands  

Color: 0.5 yellow gold 

ABV: 48.4%  

Nose: Immediate impressions of fruit and earth, funk, a bit of smoke and spice, very typical Ben Nevis, but not so far from a Springbank either.  Apples, pear, vanilla, loam, a bit of cinnamon, passion fruit, grapefruit, clove and a dash of smoke, some caramel and tobacco and in deep in it, a bit of floral note.

Palate: Grapefruit, guava, apple juice, cinnamon, ginger, lemon, green banana, white pepper, barley sugar, loam, basil, and a lovely vanilla-caramel creme brulee note develops deeper in the palate and then it develops into earthy loam, very light white pepper on the development.

Finish: long but medium intensity with barley sugar, guava, ginger, white pepper, vanilla, apple, green bananas and smoke in the background and a long tail of rich honey.

Rating: 89  

Summary: This is the best of the ex-bourbon 1996-1998 Ben Nevis I’ve had so far, but it is not way out in front of either the others in any measure except cost. And since this was released, costs have continued to creep up a bit further.   This is very good, but I think Ben Nevis does better in 2nd fill sherry.  Good 2nd fill sherry casks seem to elevate the funky character of the malt without overpowering it.  With the ABV dropping to 48.8% here it’s not got that much power over the TCC bottling I reviewed a while back.  And considering the cost difference between them I wouldn’t necessarily prefer this one.