Highlands, Scotland
Ben Nevis 10 Year Old
- Fruity
- Spicy
- Sweet
Distillery
Ben Nevis whiskies
Ben Nevis is a distillery in Fort William, on the west coast of the Highlands, at the foot of Britain’s highest mountain, which gives it its name. It was founded in 1825 and since 1989 has belonged to Nikka, the Japanese house, which uses part of its malt in its own blends. It is known for an old-fashioned, dense and somewhat rustic style, much appreciated by fans of malts with character.
- Founded
- 1825
- Owner
- Nikka Whisky Distilling
- Origin
- Highlands, Scotland
- In the catalogue
- 1 whisky
History, style and where to startSee it on the world mapBen Nevis official website(opens in a new tab)
Guide to Ben Nevis
History
The distillery was founded in 1825 by John Macdonald, a very tall man known as “Long John”, who gave his name to a blend that was very popular during the 20th century. The Macdonald family came to own another distillery next to the first, and the business grew with the arrival of the railway. After passing through several owners and long periods of inactivity, the distillery was bought by Nikka in 1989, one of the first Japanese investments in Scotch whisky. Since then part of its malt has travelled to Japan for Nikka’s blends, and the distillery also keeps a range of its own, with the ten-year-old as its benchmark.
House style
Ben Nevis malt is dense and complex, with ripe fruit, wax, leather, spice and sometimes a faint touch of smoke. It has a somewhat rustic character reminiscent of the malts of other eras, and an unctuous texture that sets it apart from the more polished Highland malts. With age it gains dried fruit, chocolate and depth, and with sherry it becomes rich and indulgent.
Flavour profile of its whisky in the catalogue
Where to start
Ben Nevis 10 is the catalogue’s entry and a very good way to get to know the house style. Try it neat and then with a few drops of water, which open up the fruit and the wax. If you like this kind of dense malt with character, compare it with Springbank 10 or Craigellachie 13.
This text was generated and translated by AI and may contain errors. Founding year, owner and official website come partly from Wikidata.