Whisky: Ben Nevis 25 Year (1999), Cadenhead's Campbeltown Malts Festival 2024

Country/Region: Scotland/Highlands

ABV: 49.3%

Cask: Bourbon Hogshead

Age: 25 Years (Distilled May 1999, Bottled 13 May 2024)

Nose: Orange and pastry, old wood, grassy and slightly floral, musty earth and paper, hints of chocolate and earthy teas.

Palate: Medium to light-bodied, citrusy and woody, tropical fruits and pastries, pineapple, slightly floral, grassy and earthy with old wood.

Finish: Medium to long and slightly drying with old wood, tea, and subtle tropical fruits.

Score: 7-8 (86)

Mental Image: Post-Yard Work Kick Back

Narrative & Notes: Orange and ginger biscuits kicked off a malty, fruity affair with shortbread cookies, scones, and buttery pastries. Mellow rattan furniture on a tropical lanai lent a waxed woodiness to grass clippings, orange blossoms, musty earth, and old newspapers. Hints of chocolate emerged alongside a mellow pot of herbal, slightly earthy tea— perhaps a kava or turmeric infusion? Medium to light-bodied, the flavor profile featured crisp citrus over a gentle dry woodiness, that slowly revealed tropical fruits and earth at turns. Malty pastries infused with passionfruit, orange blossom, and pineapple tickled the palate, but faded as buttery cookies and earthier elements arrived. A freshly mowed yards came on with old wood, freshly dug up ginger roots, and a kiss of floral sweet honey suckle. The finish was medium to long and slightly drying with old wood, tea, and hints of tropical fruits.

Fairly austere and reserved at first, it took more than a few sips for some of the fruitier notes emerge and take over.  The aroma was well-defined with a lovely evolution from fruity-malty to something earthier and mustier, while the flavor profile on the palate was more difficult to pin down and evolved along different lines. Everything was initially mellow and fleeting, slowly building over the course of a large pour— anything less and the whisky remained frustratingly elusive. It would not surprise me at all to hear someone picked up none of the same notes I did.

Overall, for a special bottle picked up while visiting Campbeltown the whisky was challenging, insofar as flavor hunting and trying to describe it went, but was enjoyable enough to kick back with and sip on. I was initially a bit disappointed in it, but it grew on me, especially after putting it against the other whiskies I reviewed this week.