Whisky: Ben Nevis "McDonald's Traditional"

Country/Region: Scotland/Highlands

ABV: 46%

Nose: Earthy, chocolate malt, old campfire, meaty burnt ends, bubbling clay, stewed stone fruit, hints of dried vegetation and iron.

Palate: Medium-bodied with burning oak, mellow earth, clay, dried wood, lactic with a slight sourness, berries, earth and chimney smoke lingered at the end.

Finish:  Medium-length with wood smoke and berries.

Score: 7

Mental Image: Mud bath under Autumn Leaves

Narrative & Notes:  The aroma was rich and meaty, with a lovely earthiness that slowly developed toward chocolate malt and an old burnt-out campfire. The richness peaked with a satisfying meatiness, occasionally a bit gamey when iron-like notes appeared, but otherwise in line with meaty burnt ends. With hints of dried vegetation, one taster suggested tumbleweeds as stewed stone fruits arrived with bubbling clay— a resort spa mud-bath? The profile centered smoke with a burning oak campfire at first, slightly more acrid green wood on the mid-palate, and sweet pine at the end. Between the clouds were earthy notes of red dirt, clay, and subtle red berries. Occasionally lactic with a slight sour quality, the finish was otherwise clean and smokey with hints of berries.

This fun bottle snuck into a vintage whisky tasting our local club did this past summer. It was bottled about a decade ago by Ben Nevis as an homage or recreation of the more heavily peated whisky style the distillery produced at the end of the 19th century. It was not quite vintage and definitely the most recently released bottle we poured during the tasting. Still, the label looks old, and we needed some peated whisky to help fill things out.

Overall, this was undoubtedly the best peated Ben Nevis I have tried. It had a lot of fans during our tasting, and almost everyone rated it in their top two bottles of the event. The occasional hints of something more acrid or sour on the flavor profile were enjoyable and felt well-integrated into the broader profile, so there was nothing off about this whisky. I am curious what it would taste like at cask strength; though it had a great body and finish at 46%, I wonder if the higher proof would intensify the generally clean flavors or muddle the whole affair.