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Ben Nevis 12 Year Old Single Cask Nation #170023 Review

Experience the wild and adventurous Ben Nevis Single Cask whisky. With a sherry appearance and caramel nose, it delivers a funky, earthy finish with notes of chocolate and sourdough.

OVERALL RATING

9
$124
  • Phil Dwyer is a freelance whisky writer and consultant with over a decade of experience in whisky retail and online whisky education. Best known for hosting Whisky Wednesday on YouTube, he is dedicated to making whisky accessible and enjoyable by cutting through jargon and complexity.
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Tasting Notes

About:

A very classic example of wild Ben Nevis! This takes you on a truly mad adventure in all sorts of different directions.
Appearance:
Old Sherry (with some floating barrel char)
Nose:
Loads of caramel and orange oils. It smells like a booze infused crème Brulé, you’ get that big hit of vanilla and caramelised sugars on top. Even with this heavy char, you’re getting some freshness of green apples, a little bit of Ben Nevis funk, but it appears quite subdued under this heavy char influence.
Palate:
The Ben Nevis style really comes through much more on the taste. You’re getting elements of these high ester style rum flavours coming through. It’s yeasty and Brioche like in the sweetness. With this you have some more industrial and drier qualities to it like the barrel influences, obviously, and something that is reminiscent of fusil oils – it has a wonderful quality to it. Oily isn’t the word, it’s more sticky and gummy.
Finish:
You get this huge hit of funky, dirty, dunnage floor note as this descends down your throat. It’s green, earthy and funky to the very end. It has this lovely milk chocolate note that feels to me like a base note, as all of these other notes fire away from it. Bags of caked distillers yeast, caramelised white chocolate, sourdough bread, salt and the distant aroma of a petrol forecourt.
Comments:
Wild, fun, takes you in a million different directions and has some base flavours that can welcome in the drinker who wants something more familiar. Ben Nevis is always wild card, in a way you never quite not what you’re going to get, especially that unusual year of 1996. This is a little more consistent with what you’d want from a single cask expression from this distillery. With water added you get even more of these burnt wood aromas. It’s leading into coconut, milk chocolate and sugar syrup.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by The Whiskey Wash or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.

Phil Dwyer

Phil Dwyer is a freelance whisky writer and consultant. With a decade of experience in whisky retail and nearly as long running Whisky Wednesday on YouTube, Phil is dedicated to sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm with fellow whisky lovers. His goal is to make whisky accessible and enjoyable, dispelling the jargon and complexity that can sometimes surround the spirit. In addition to his online presence, Phil managed The Whisky Shop Manchester, where he curated an impressive selection of some of the finest drams available.

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