Ben Nevis 1926 Single Cask 63 Year Old #322

Ben Nevis distillery was built by "Long" John MacDonald in 1825, and was so popular by the end of the 19th century that at one point the estate employed over 200 people. After a series of closures and re-openings at the beginning of the 20th, it was eventually bought by former Canadian bootlegger, Joseph Hobbs. He installed a coffey still there in 1955, making Ben Nevis Scotland's first dual-operation distillery, and began to blend its malt and grain before filling it to cask. Sporadic closures again followed Hobb's death, with stability finally ensured in 1989 when it was bought by long-term customers, Nikka Whisky of Japan. Its turbulent history means there were few distillery bottlings until the launch of the 10 year old single malt in 1996.

This impressive 1926 vintage has been aged for 63 years in a single oak cask before being bottled in the late 1980s. Upon bottling and due to the incredible length of maturation, the whisky’s ABV has dropped below today’s standard strength of 40%. In fact, only 14% of the original filling still remained in the cask at the time of bottling, producing just 96 bottles.

It is presented in a classic wooden, felt-lined case and was originally bottled for the Japanese market.