Ben Nevis 20 Years Old 1997 Cask #603 (Sansibar)

Bottled by Sansibar in 2017 as a 20 year old single cask release drawn from cask 603 of 1997 vintage Ben Nevis with 300 bottles distributed to the Taiwan market at cask strength of 52.3%.

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 20 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 52.3% across 20 years reflects steady evaporative loss, with American oak influence integrating with Ben Nevis's heavy, oily Western Highland character.