Lady Of The Glen’s Single Malt 16 Year Old Ben Nevis

The Ben Nevis release will be our second Highland Whisky although it will be our first single Malt Highland Whisky; our previous Highland release was the 24 year old Single Grain from the Invergordon distillery.

The distillery in Ben Nevis was founded in the Western Highlands in 1825 and it remains one of the oldest licensed distilleries in Scotland. It boasts perhaps the greatest view of any distillery in Scotland as it sits north of the wildly romantic Ben Nevis, the highest point on the British Isles. The distillery sources its water from Alt a Mhulin which runs from Ben Nevis past the distillery into the River Lochy.

According to Whisky historians the distillery was founded by Long John McDonald, a famous figure in Whisky folklore because he was one of the first illicit distillers to sell his own Whisky and he was apparently a giant of a man in height, strength and fitness. Queen Victoria even visited Long John’s Ben Nevis distillery in 1848 where she was presented a special cask dedicated to her son, the Prince of Wales, future King Edward VII.

However, these times of legend and success did not ensure a rosy future for the distillery; multiple changes in ownership in the 20th Century resulted in the distillery closing in 1986. Fortunately it was reopened in 1991 under new ownership and it has been active ever since.

The Lady of the Glen Ben Nevis is a 16 year old Single Malt. Distilled on the 3rd of December 1998 and the cask number is 1407. It was aged in a refilled Sherry Hogshead cask for the full sixteen years.

It was bottled at cask strength 52.08% and the cask yielded 273 70cl bottles.

In our tasting of the Ben Nevis we had on the nose sweetness and maltiness like a banana malt loaf while on the palate it was further sweetness with a zest of fruits. A touch of water allows the fruit expression with a cake mix suggestion.

If you would like to purchase a bottle for £55.00 including delivery please follow this link or if you would like your limited edition bottle with a pair of Glencairn tasting glasses for an additional £5.00 click here

At Lady of the Glen I always take one bottle from each release and reduce it to a collection of samples which I send out to reviewers to get their unbiased opinions. Below are a collection of links to the independent reviews with tasting notes of this Ben Nevis.

Ben Cops’, of Ben’s Whisky Blog, described the Ben Nevis as “uncompromising, intense, exciting, balanced, complex and old beyond it’s years”

Jon, of Scotch and Sci-fi, concluded with “sit back, pour, explore, enjoy and relax. Fantastic experience”.

Tiger White of the Edinburgh Whisky Blog tasted “vanilla, lemon peel, custard creams, cinder toffee, a gingery spice and fresh sawdust”

Tom who writes Toms Whisky Reviews got “Toffee coins and sweet sugary candy notes with oak and malt filled background”

Steve of the Somerset Whisky Blog had “Thick, instantly sweet and buttery, quite a wine like character…a great cask here“