CHERRY WOOD IN THE WHISKY – Score: 5.5/10
Some drams announce themselves with fruit; this one walks in smelling of the carpenter’s workshop. Pour this 2015 Ben Nevis, bottled at eight years old, and the first impression is of freshly planed cherry wood — the fruit and the timber of the same tree, arriving hand in hand in the glass.
The distillery has quite a story behind it. Founded in 1825 by “Long John” McDonald at the foot of Britain’s highest mountain, just outside Fort William, Ben Nevis has belonged to Japan’s Nikka since 1989 and is known for a robust, slightly old-fashioned spirit that rarely leaves anyone indifferent.
On the palate, cherry and wood remain the backbone. A layer of chocolate rounds off the edges, bringing to mind a cherry-filled praline, before a pinch of pepper wakes everything up on the way out.
A pleasant, coherent companion, easy to follow — but one that never quite steps out from the shadow of its timber. A young Ben Nevis that shows its character without yet having much more to say.
