Whisky Review: G&C Pearls of Scotland Ben Nevis 18 Year 1997/2015

Gordon & Company, not to be confused with Gordon & Macphail, is another independent, family owned blender and bottler in Glasgow that releases single casks under the Pearls of Scotland label.

This whisky was distilled in May 1997, filled into a hogshead (judging from the outturn), and bottled in May 2015 at 50.9% without coloring or chill filtration.

I bought two samples from the WhiskyBase Shop to try this one, as they had a number of different Ben Nevis samples available at the same time.

G&C Pearls of Scotland Ben Nevis 18 Year 1997/2015 Cask #614

Nose: malty, almost sherried, savory vanilla, a little green, incense/perfume, gingerbread, sour. After adding a few drops of water, it becomes flatter and more malty, plus the vinous notes are replaced with woody orange peel.

Taste: big woody sweetness throughout, almost sherried in the middle, malty fadeout with floral vanilla. After dilution there is more vanilla and sweetness, plus almost smoky oak comes out.

Finish: lime peel, oak, malt, savory

While there's nothing overtly wrong with this cask, it doesn't really hit the notes that I'm looking for from Ben Nevis. The best thing I can say is that its a competent malt. Unlike the Archives bottling, there are no glaring flaws that jump out at you, but unlike the Exclusive Casks bottling, there's not a lot going on. It's just pleasant and easy drinking. So while it's reasonably priced given it's age, I'd need it to get into 'great value' territory before I pulled the trigger. Still, if this is something that sounds good to you, it's still available, unlike the Archives cask.

Whisky Review: Archives Ben Nevis 16 Year 1999/2015

Archives is a label exclusive to the WhiskyBase Shop, a retailer in the Netherlands. They usually manage to be priced as values, which is a nice change of pace from many other contemporary bottlers. Additionally they offer many of the malts in their shop as small 20 mL samples so customers can try before they splurge on full bottles. I grabbed two for this one to make sure I could get a fuller experience. I had very different experiences with each sample, so I'll present both sets of tasting notes.

This whisky was distilled on May 13th 1999, filled into a hogshead, then bottled on September 21st 2015 at 55.4% without coloring or chill filtration.

Archives Ben Nevis 16 Year 1999/2015 Cask #166

Tasting #1

Nose: rather feint-y, plastic/solvent, new make/grassy, unripe apples/pears, berry jam, light wood spices, slightly coastal, roasted peanuts. After adding a few drops of water the off notes largely disappear, with the peanuts leaping to the fore and are joined by walnuts, the berry notes expand significantly and take on a floral edge, while the wood becomes softer and integrates into the malt.

Taste: alcoholic sweetness with an undercurrent of oak up front with fudgy herbal overtones, quickly fades through berry esters into malty notes of fresh dough and classic Ben Nevis savoriness at the back. After dilution the initial sweetness, oak, and berry notes largely integrate up front, with the berries hanging on all the way to the back where they are joined by floral notes and some muskier fruit, overlaying a more muted and muddled savory note going into the finish

Finish: alcohol, grassy, malt

Tasting #2

Nose: Demerara rum with a slight sour wine edge, oily, musky overripe fruit, roast squash, malt, raisins, vanilla. After adding a few drops of water, it becomes more vinous, the savory notes become sweeter, chocolate graham crackers, roses, and burnt orange peel all come out.

Taste: sweet malt with polished oak in the background up front, vinous/sherry in the middle, fading through greener/grassy notes to a malty classic Ben Nevis finish. After dilution the sweet oak spreads across the palate and the green/vegetal overtones move into the middle.

Finish: oak, savory, malt

It's hard for me to get my head around this malt. The first tasting seemed excessively youthful for its 16 years in the cask. That should have been more than enough to outgas the solvent notes often found in new make whisky, but this one seemed to have held onto them with a tight fist. While it had many of the elements I look for from Ben Nevis, the youthfulness seemed to throw everything else out of whack, preventing it from coming together into a coherent whole.

The second tasting was far more in line with what I was looking for from this whisky. The youthfulness had almost completely disappeared and left a very tasty bourbon cask malt. Easily something that I would have been willing to purchase. Unfortunately it's all gone, including samples, so we're all out of luck.

Whisky Review: Exclusive Casks Ben Nevis 14 Year/1998

Exclusive Casks is a line of single cask whiskies bottled by the Creative Whisky Company bottled for Total Wine in the United States. This is alongside the CWC's Exclusive Malts line that are found at a broader range of stores.

This was part of a batch of whiskies that hit the shelves with very little fanfare. Michael Kravitz has reviewed it twice and passed a sample along to me.

The whisky was distilled at Ben Nevis on December 1st 1998, aged in an indeterminate cask (probably a hogshead), then bottled after at least 14 years at 53.2% without coloring or chill filtration in a run of 258 bottles. There are a lot of questions about provenance because the bottle leaves out some critical information.

Exclusive Casks Ben Nevis 14 Year/1998

Nose: fresh Douglas fir sawdust, creamy fresh malt, light herbal peat, rosemary, vague sherry character, orange peel, peaches/apricots, cookie/bread dough, vanilla, American oak. After adding a few drops of water, the malt is significantly amplified but also seems younger, with the herbal notes gaining some pine,

Taste: thick malt and wood sweetness up front, quickly joined by oak tannins that build towards the back, strong orange and peach notes in the middle, herbal peat slides into the background, bitter almond notes with a bump of orange oil and something industrial at the back. After dilution, the oak and fruit notes come together to make it taste almost sherried, while the back becomes more polished oak with strong floral overtones

Finish: almond, peach, oak, vague herbal peat, root vegetables/earthy

Smells have some of the strongest memory associations and this takes me straight back to helping my father cut 2x4s on a table saw in the garage. It's exactly the same kind of fresh wood smell, but unlike other whiskies I've tried with that character it isn't because the spirit was aged in small casks and doesn't seem out of place. Overall there's a great balance between the brighter flavors of peach and orange with the danker herbal and peat character.

I would love to get a full bottle of this whisky, but as it's only available in Washington which has absurd liquor taxes that would push the price above $100, I'm going to have to pass. But I will be keeping my eye out for other bottles from Ben Nevis of a similar vintage hoping that they hit the same kinds of notes.