Ben Nevis 23 Years Old 1998 Cask #1534 (BB&R)

Bottled by Berry Bros & Rudd in 2021 as a 23 year old single cask release drawn from cask 1534 of 1998 vintage Ben Nevis with 259 bottles distributed to the Ukraine market at cask strength of 54.2%. Berry Bros & Rudd is a London based fine wine and spirits merchant founded in 1698.

Distilled at Ben Nevis distillery in Fort William at the foot of the highest mountain in the British Isles, founded in 1825 by John "Long John" McDonald and owned by Nikka Whisky Distilling under Asahi Group since 1989. The wash uses unpeated malted barley with soft Allt a'Mhuilinn burn water from springs on the slopes of Ben Nevis, fermented for around 48 hours with brewer's pressed yeast in eight washbacks of stainless steel and Oregon pine. Ben Nevis runs two wash and two spirit stills, the wash stills tubular with plain deep bases, the spirit stills cone shaped with deep bases, all steam heated through shell and tube condensers. The spirit was filled into a single ex-Bourbon American oak cask for 23 years of on site maturation.

Extended maturation drove measured American oak extraction in dunnage and racked warehousing on site in Fort William. Vanillin from lignin breakdown gave vanilla, cis and trans oak lactones added coconut and sweet wood, and char layer interaction produced furfural with Maillard derived caramelised sugars. Holding 54.2% across 23 years reflects steady evaporative loss, with American oak influence integrating with Ben Nevis's heavy, oily Western Highland character.