Ben Nevis 1996, The Whisky Jury

Nose: less immediately lush than some others. That means sour apples (sauvignon), grapefruit and lime zest at first. Some grassy notes. After a while more tropical notes emerge, like mango and passion fruits. Whiffs of candle wax and wood polish, as well as wet plaster and wild flowers.

Mouth: a very oily delivery, something in between olive oil and a syrup. Verbena, mint and other herbs, mixing with flints and chalk. It doesn’t take long before it bursts open into maracuya, pink grapefruits and other fruits that wouldn’t be out of place in well-aged Bushmills. Mineral and fresh, with a light salty edge. Heaps of character.

Finish: long, on these gently bitter citrus notes, chalk and paraffin.

We’ve run out of conclusions for this kind of whisky. We know Ben Nevis filled some excellent casks in this era and we know TWJ has a nose to select them. Cask 1372 is still our favourite, but this is definitely on the same level. As the yield is relatively small, several TWJ retailers are running ballots as we speak.