Ben Nevis McDonald's Traditional

Ben Nevis McDonald's Traditional, 5 YO, 46 %

I recently visited the Ben Nevis Distillery. A great experience, visiting a distillery I had barely heard of before. The only whiskies I had tried from the distillery had been a couple of independent bottlings. Well, that's all changed now. I have tried all their core range whiskies, and a few more. This is quality whisky, well worth trying if you haven't already.

Today I am reviewing the Ben Nevis McDonald's Traditional. This is a heavily peated Ben Nevis, which is a bit unusual. All their other whiskies are unpeated, as far as I know.

The malt for this expression is sourced from Port Ellen Maltings on Islay, at around 35 ppm. This is a limited edition release, with two batches that I know of. The first had numbered bottles and an outturn of 700. The second batch does not have numbered bottles - at least my bottle has no number, and it was bought at the distillery.

The information leaflet that came with the bottle states that the whisky is at least five years old, but the bottle itself has no age statement.

The Ben Nevis McDonald's Traditional is available to buy in Sweden at SEK 719  (item number 84301). It is not available in Norway.

Nose (23/25): Lots of dry smoke, lots of honey, rich, marzipan, almonds, camphor. A lovely fiery and youthful dram, and I mean that in the best possible way. It has a very fine nose.

Taste (20/25): Rich and sweet. Lots of honey here, as well as light smoke and unsalted peanuts.

Finish (21/25): Ginger and dark chocolate (not the very sweet kind). It becomes more dry towards the end, and the peat smoke lingers, mixing quite nicely with the chocolate notes.

Balance (21/25): Really nice peated Highland whisky. Especially the nose is fantastic, I think.

Score (85/100)

Sláinte! - Thomas