When a new Ben Nevis pops up, I am automatically enthusiastic, since most of them are very good nowadays. When that one is young I get a little bit less thrilled, but when it’s only about € 40, that kind of makes up for that.

So, on a recent visit to De Whiskykoning I picked one up for a tasting, sold some samples and emptied the bottle myself when writing a review.

Sniff:
There’s youthful alcohol, with some orchard fruits. Apple, pear. A whiff of vanilla and puff pastry too. Still, it’s quite an astringent whisky, with some iron and minerals.

Sip:
The palate is light, but the astringency stands out a bit more. There’s a bit of a wine gum like sweetness, although that dissipates with more oxygen. Apple, pear, white grapes, iron, slate.

Swallow:
The finish is a bit sweeter, and a bit more pastry like. More vanilla, more puff pastry. Not very long.

Of course it’s young, but luckily the casks haven’t made it into a vanilla bomb. It’s also quite sweet because of the spirit still being quite prominent, but otherwise a fine whisky.

It’s a ‘little’ whisky, easy drinking but very little complexity. Well priced, though. For the money, it’s quite some value, actually.

Now I’m interested in the sister cask that has come out since…

85/100

This one is from casks 157 and 158. More info can be found here.