Ben Nevis Distillery
The town of Fort William huddles in the shadow of mighty Ben Nevis in the western highlands of Scotland. Standing at 1,345 metres, Nevis is the highest peak in the British Isles and draws more than 150,000 climbers each year. At the foot of the mountain, however, lies another attraction: the Ben Nevis Distillery.
Founded in 1825 and made famous by ‘Long’ John MacDonald, the Ben Nevis distillery is now owned by Japanese distilling giants Nikka. Its whisky, in my opinion, is something of a hidden gem. The Nevis malt isn’t the most visible of brands in its home nation, but those who come across it, are seldom disappointed by what they find.
Visiting Ben Nevis Distillery
I decided to pay Ben Nevis a visit in May of this year and was almost dumbstruck to find Fort William basking in glorious sunshine, something which I am reliably informed hasn’t happened since 1923. The distillery appeared attractive and welcoming in the morning light as the sunshine glinted on its old slate roof tiles.
Inside, a welcoming reception area lead to a small cafe and shop, displaying an array of bottlings, from single cask and limited edition malts to blends and even blended malts. The quantity of expressions on offer came as something of a surprise. On previous visits I’ve found the shelves almost bare. So much of the Nevis whisky heads eastward, it can sometimes be hard to get at home. The rarity of the malt only makes a trip to this enigma of a distillery even more worth it, however.
The tour commenced with an introductory video. The same video played when I first visited many years ago and, it must be said, could do with being laid to rest. Fortunately, the viewing experience was brought to an abrupt end before it all became too excruciating, thanks to an apparent technology failure behind the scenes. I’ll have to come back another time to see the conclusion of the story of big Hector McDram the Scottish Giant. Can’t wait.
From the screen room, the tour set out to explore the distillery proper, taking in each stage of the whisky-making process and culminating in a visit to the impressive still-house before exploring the variation of casks that are currently used in maturation. I couldn’t help but notice the mountain that loomed over the warehousing like an imposing sentinel. Ben Nevis is an impressive sight, but it is also the source of the water used in the production of this intriguing dram.
Back at the shop, a few drams were sampled before I opted to take home a bottle of ‘McDonald’s Traditional Ben Nevis‘, a peated single malt bottled at 46% and available for just £40.
McDonald’s Celebrated Traditional Ben Nevis Review
Smell: Toffee and subtle smoke, caramel, fudge. Touch of leather. Menthol, too. Oak and a light sherry influence.
Taste: Toffee again, orange, more sherry, some black pepper and a definite whiff of peat.
Thoughts: This is a lovely little dram for a very reasonable price. At the distillery I paid around £40. It’s not well known but it’s thoroughly enjoyable all the same. In fact, the quality of the whisky being produced at Ben Nevis is remarkably high across the board, given its relatively low profile and ‘McDonald’s Celebrated Traditional Ben Nevis’ is one of the best reasonably priced malts I’ve come across this year. I was disappointed to find that they didn’t have any of their 10 year old available when I arrived but one taste of this and I had forgotten all about it. Great dram.
Leave a Reply