Be warned, this is going to be one of those contrary reviews that I’ve been doing lately.

When I did the Ben Nevis bottle-share, almost 18 months ago, I also picked up this port pipe ‘finished’ 27 year old with rather high expectations. Finished is between quotes, since the sherry maturation that came before it was 12 years, which means the finish was 15 years and the larger part of the maturation.

Now, about port finishes. There have been some great ones in the past, but as with the Blair Athols from The Ultimate a few years ago, there are quite some bottlings out there that ‘people’ like a lot and I just can’t wrap my head around. This is one of them.

I was a bit warned when it turned out to be a pink whisky. As with the Laphroaig Cairdeas port-thingy from a few years back, that’s a warning!

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Almost like very sweet grenadine on the nose. Rhubarb, strawberries, not very whisky-like.

Sip:
Lots of alcohol heat. Again very sweet with red fruits and sugary rhubarb compote. A bit of sharp oak and more and more burn.

Swallow:
Ramps up the sweetness, while a burning sensation lingers. Warms you up, but doesn’t do much for the flavor.

I expected way more than this. I can’t say I like this whisky. It’s very sweet and more like a boozy fruit compote than a whisky with a twist. It’s one of the port cask maturations in which the port and the port cask completely took over and there’s not much distillery character (if any) to be found. Big fat bummer!

75/100

Ben Nevis 27yo, 1990-2018, Port Pipe #5, 58.9%. Available in Germany for € 229