Whisky: Ben Nevis 5 Year (2015), Adelphi Cask 10712

Country/Region: Scotland/Highlands

ABV: 58.9%

Cask: First Fill Oloroso

Age: 5 Year (Distilled 2015, Bottled 2020)

Nose: Stewed fruits and polished leather, musty with holiday spices, hints of cardboard and sawdust, cherry and blackberry compote, hints of used fireworks.

Palate: Medium-bodied, drying, stewed plums with cinnamon, brown sugar, and apple cores; grape gushers candy, hints of lime, sawdust, cherry Twizzlers, cola toward the end.

Finish: Medium-length fruit compote and wood.

Score: 5

Mental Image: Dr. Pepper at Medical School

Narrative & Notes: I poured this as dram #19 on a “Holiday Mystery Whisky Advent Calendar” and guessed it was a Compass Box sherry-driven blend. I figured I had the cask correct no matter what, but I could not think of any specific distillery of which this reminded me. It felt like all cask, all the time. It was not bad for a sherry-driven whisky, not quite a bomb, but the cask was definitely in the driver’s seat. Beyond lovely notes of stewed fruits, spice, and wood, there was little more to discover. The whisky played one note and played it pretty well. I thought the cola on the back of the palate was particularly lovely, but again, not something I would hang my hat on.

I am not quite sure why I did not post this during my advent calendar tasting rundown in December, but I took the time to revisit it and did not find my thoughts had changed very much. Overall, not bad, nothing special. If you like sherry-forward flavor profiles and do not mind the spirit bludgeoned by the cask, I am sure you would rate it a notch or two higher. If you are looking for classic Ben Nevis dirt or tropical fruit, I would move along to another bottle as I found the distillery character more or less irrelevant.