Side by side: Five from Ben Nevis

The Japanese distillery in Scotland - @WhiskyBenNevis is very under the radar.

Famous for it's blends Dew of Ben Nevis and Macdonalds of Glencoe there are some single malt releases.

Founded in 1825 the Ben Nevis distillery was established by ‘Long’ John McDonald (after whom the renowned blended Scotch, Long John, is named), a second distillery 'Nevis' was built alongside in 1878 and in the early 1900's they joined forces. In 1955 the distillery was one of the first to install a Coffey Still for continuous distillation which allowed production of both malt and grain whisky, this was removed in 1981.

It's had many owners over the years including Whitbread & Co who mothballed the distillery in 1986. It was taken over and reopened by Japan's Asahi Group Holdings in 1989. They export around 30% of the distillery's new-make spirit to Japan for use in the Nikka blends.

The distillery features a stainless steel mash tun, six steel and two pine washbacks, two 25,000 litre Wash Stills and two 20,000 litre spirit stills.

There aren't many distillery bottlings, a 10yo and occasional cask strength 10yo are about all you'll find but there are plenty of indie bottlers. Let's see how their whiskies taste:

Dram	10yo Distillery Bottling	2015 4yo Càrn Mòr	2015 6yo Càrn Mòr	2015 7yo Càrn Mòr	2008 10yo Batch 1 Distillery Bottling
Characteristics	46% ABV, NCF, Natural Colour	47.5% ABV, NCF, Natural Colour Sherry Hogsheads	47.5% ABV, NCF, Natural Colour Sherry Hogsheads	47.5% ABV, NCF, Natural Colour Sherry Butts	62.4% ABV, NCF, Natural Colour 1st Fill Bourbon, Sherry and Wine
Bottler notes	Nose: Full and rich, with a hint of smoke and roasted nuts under layers of fruit. Palate: Dried fruit and nuts with orange zest and warm spice. Finish: Long and spicy with sweet fruit.	This Ben Nevis has been bottled from two sherry hogsheads, both filled in 2015. A unique chance to try a younger offering from this Highland distillery which has recently seen a fair bit of attention from whisky drinkers.	This youthful Ben Nevis was distilled in 2015 and the tasting notes suggest there is even a peat smoke character which is rarely seen in independent bottlings of this distillery. It was bottled from sherry hogsheads producing 1323 bottles. Smoked bacon and maple syrup with a generous helping of peat smoke.	Matured for 7 years in Sherry Butts this highlander is bursting with flavours of American pancakes and rashers of smoked bacon smothered in sweet sticky maple syrup.	Nose – A mild nose-feel in spite of its strength; nose drying overall. A big, rich, complex aroma, with a top-note which combines fresh and dried fruit (bruised apple, glace cherries, dried figs, dates). Palate – A smooth texture and a lightly sweet taste, drying rapidly to a spicy finish, leaving a faint aftertaste of fondant
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thick line bead up and fall as slow thin legs.	Light gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line bead up and fall as slow thin legs.	Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line take an age to bead up and eventually fall as slow thick legs.	Mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line take an age to bead up and fall as slow thin legs.	Mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line take an age to bead up and fall as slow thin legs.
Nose	Orchard fruit to start: apricots, peaches and pears. Orange zest, hazelnut toffee and some vanilla. There's a very faint hint of smoke.	Gentle smoke, sherry soaked dried fruit and a little digestive biscuit crumb. A hint of orange and some caramel.	Like the 4yo but turned up a few notches. The smoke is more intense as is the sherry influence - blueberry jam, dates, figs, black cherries. Some hazelnut and a little hint of sulphur maybe?	Similar to the 4yo: gentle smoke, sherry soaked dried fruit and a little digestive biscuit. The toffee and orange notes are here too alongside some coffee and hazelnut.	This is like the 6yo, almost a sherry bomb - some dunnage funk, dried fruit, figs, dates, black cherries . There's some toffee and nut and again a little hint of sulphur.
Palate	Sweet arrival, loads of orange, peach and toffee. The hazelnuts from the nose are back alongside a little mineral salinity. Then a chilli spice kicks in. Icing sugar dryness as the liquid disappears.	Sweet Highland Park style heathery peat, that mineral salinity from the 10yo and a load of orange juice. There's a gentle peppery spice and again an icing sugar dryness as the liquid disappears. Nice.	Thick sweet arrival, blueberries, dried fruit, dates, figs and cherries. The hazelnuts are here with a little salted caramel. and peppery spice. The smoke comes in blanketing everything and leaving a dryness as the liquid disappears.	Again similar to the 4yo, sweet peat, orange and a little salinity. This one seems a little more refined (it is older!) A little toffee, hazelnut and honey. The smoke builds, as does the peppery spice and again a drying icing sugar note at the end. Yummy!	Another thick sweet arrival, the orange and toffee notes are here, a little honey and the hazelnuts. Then the sherry notes come through - blueberries, cherries, dates, figs, prunes. The smoke is there in the background as is a peppery spice. The extra ABV just isn't noticeable A little coffee and tobacco. Nice.
Finish	Lingering dry spice, orange zest and a little vanilla.	Lingering heathery smoke, spice and a little toffee.	Long spicy finish with a little smoke and toffee.	Lingering heathery smoke, spice and a little nutty toffee.	Long fruity and smoky with a bite of spice.
Overall	It's been a while since I tried a Ben Nevis, it just seems a little under the radar these days. What we have here are the core range 10yo and a cask strength 10yo from the distillery. In between are 3 sherry cask matured Càrn Mòr bottlings from Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers.  Ben Nevis DNA: well without a 100% bourbon maturation bottling I'm struggling a little but gentle heathery peat smoke, oranges, toffee and hazelnuts seem to be present in all of these. To be honest I was pleasantly surprised by the core 10yo, all of the DNA characteristics and a lovely bite of spice. Definitely worth hunting out a bottle. At the other extreme is a cask strength 10yo matured in bourbon, sherry and wine casks, a much more complex dram, one to take your time over and very rewarding, the 62.4% ABV was well hidden. The middle 3 were all Càrn Mòr bottlings, sherry matured, and all diluted to 47.5ish% the difference being their ages. The 4yo again was pleasantly surprising - blind you'd never have guessed the youth - all of the Ben Nevis DNA and an icing sugar dryness to round things off. The 5yo must have been in newer or more active casks - the sherry influence was much more pronounced, as was the colour. Salted caramel and a little more smoke. The 6yo was the best of the 5 for me, not as sherried as the 5yo, a little more smoke and a little more spice - ticking all of my boxes!