Ben Nevis 1997 W-F (Whisky-Fässle (W-F))

Bottled by Whisky-Fässle (W-F) in 2020 as a 23 year old release of 1997 vintage Ben Nevis distributed to the German market at cask strength of 49.2%. Whisky-Fässle is a German independent bottler founded by Frank Kühne, focused on hand selected single cask releases at natural strength.

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 ex-Bourbon American oak 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 49.2% across 23 years reflects steady evaporative loss, with American oak influence integrating with Ben Nevis's heavy, oily Western Highland character.