Ben Nevis 1996 29 Years Old Single Cask 48.1%

About

Scout Drinks released this Ben Nevis 1996 as part of its second batch, and the single cask quickly sold out. This is a 29-year-old Highland malt that spent three decades in a single cask, delivering a powerful tropical fruit profile reminiscent of late-1980s Irish single malts, but with a mineral edge running through it. The nose opens with mango, guava, and passion fruit, followed by a fascinating fatty waxiness and a whisper of furniture polish. On the palate comes the same tropical intensity—mango, tinned pineapple, tangerines—but now interlaced with mineral notes of lime, wet pebbles, and salt. The texture is properly waxy, characteristic of Ben Nevis from this golden era. This is a whisky that makes no compromises. The interplay of ripe tropical fruit, mineral sharpness, and that distinctive waxy mouthfeel creates a memorable dram—one that Scout Drinks rightly saw disappear from shelves almost immediately.

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