Ben Nevis

SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKIES > B

BEN NEVIS

26 years old

55,4%
Distilled 1972
Cask No. 602
Bottled 1998
205 bottles
Ben Nevis Distillery
(Fort William) Limited

BEN NEVIS

8 years old

43 %
VINTAGE 1990
Distilled 14.12.90
Bottled 2.3.99
Matured in a sherry butt
Butt No. 1376
775 bottles
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

BEN NEVIS

8 years old

43 %
VINTAGE 1990
Distilled 14.12.90
Matured in a sherry butt
Butt No. 1379
Bottled 21.7.99
948 bottles
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

BEN NEVIS

14 years old

61.8%
LAST BOTTLE AND EMPTY
SINGLE CASK
SCOTCH MALT WHISKY
Date distilled Dec 84
Date bottled Sept 99
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh
Code 78.25
van The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh.
'Paints and sultanas'

The distillery stands in the shadow of Britain's highest mountain, on the edge of Fort William,

and takes its name from the same

The sample has a gorgeous rich color, deep polished mahogany with magenta lights. The first nose is not as rich as might be expected, indeed to start with the dominant nose is of fresh paint, but this soon gives way to, first rum'n raisin ice cream, then sultanas, dried fruit contiues when water is added, now in the form of Xmas pudding, with glace orange peel and a hint of chocolate. Eldorado sherry, burnt caramel and Irish coffee were also detected. Sultanas return in the flavour which is dry after a sweet start. Unusual

BEN NEVIS

21 years old

60,5 %
Distilled 1974
Bottled 1995
182 bottles
Ben Nevis Distillery (Fort William) Limited

BEN NEVIS

26 years old

50,8 %

Distilled 1973
Cask Nos 355 & 356
Bottled 1999
400 bottles
Ben Nevis Distillery
(Fort William) Limited
(Fort William) Limited

The two casks used in this bottling contained vastly different amounts of whisky that it would have been impracticable to have bottled the cask containing the lesser volume by itself.

For this reason we have on this occasion bottled both casks nos 355 & 356 of 1973 together as a single bottling aperation at natural strenght and colour.

BEN NEVIS

26 years old

59 %

Distilled 1966

Ben Nevis Distillery

(Fort William) Limited

Ben Nevis Distillery, established in 1825, is one of the oldest licensed distilleries in Scotland. The distillery is nestled at the foot of Britain's highest mountain (4406 ft above sea level) The production water is drawn from the Allt A 'Mhuilinn (The Mill Burn) which flows from two small lochans, Coire Leis and Coire na 'Ciste, both of which are located over 3,000 ft up Ben Nevis. These lochans must surely provide some of the purest water to be found in Scotland.

BEN NEVIS

16 years old

60,8%
CADENHEAD'S
AUTHENTIC COLLECTION
Cask Strenght
Distilled December 1977
Bottled December 1993
No colouring
Not diluted
No chill filtration
Wm. Cadenhead,
32 Unionstreet, Campbeltown

BEN NEVIS

10 years old

46%

LAST BOTTLE AND EMPTY
THISTLE COLLECTION
Distilled 22.10.92
Cask No. 3313
Bottled October 2002
Non chill filtered
Thistle, Holland

BEN NEVIS

9 years old

58.8 %
SINGLE CASK
SCOTCH MALT WHISKY
Date distilled Jun 91
Date bottled Oct 00
Society Cask No. code 78.30
Outturn 234 bottles
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, Leith, Edinburgh
'Aero Vaseline and grapefruit'

Founded by Long John Macdonald in the shadow of Britain's highest mountain (from which it takes its name), the distillery's Japanese owners keep most of its make for their own blends.

This cask has given a good color to the whisky in the nine years of maturation, and the nose is surprisingly rounded for one so young.

The first impressions are of sherbet or icing sugar, then a chocolate note develops, which the panel found 'airy', like Cadbury's Flake or, better, Aero.

Zesty and fresh. Tasted at this stage, the comment was 'pleasant and easy, but tart'.

Water sweetens it, pineapple cubes (the boiled sweeties), but then a curious trace of Vaseline petroleum jelly, something we have never found in a whisky before. This fades, but returns in the flavor, which by now is very sweet and tingly to start with - pink grapefruit describes it well - drying in the finish. Surprisingly gentle for this age.

BEN NEVIS

TEN YEARS OLD

LAST BOTTLE AND EMPTY

46 %

Proprietors Ben Nevis Distillery
(Fort William) Limited.
Lochy Bridge, Fort William

The Journey of the Water of Life.
It starts as rain or snow falling on Scotland's highest mountain - Ben Nevis. Either as rain or melting snow it percolates the thin layer of peat soil until it reaches the granite rock and unable to penetrate it runs under the surface until emerging in Coire Leish or Coire na Ciste. The Outflows from these two mountain lochans, located well over 3000' above sea level make their way spil¬ling over the blue and pink granite rocks of the mountain's rugged north face until they join together as the Allt a Mhullin continuing on in the valley between Ben Nevis and Cam Mor Dearg. For the last 750' of descent this water is piped underground into the rear of Ben Nevis Distillery where our small de¬dicated workforce work their alchemy to convert this pure clear sparkling water into to crystal clear Ben Nevis malt spirit. A period of 10 years of maturing in oak casks stored in our warehouses nestled at the foot of the moun¬tain ensues before we consider the fine whisky to be ready for drinking by the discerning.

BEN NEVIS

36 years old

50 %
THE OLD MALT CASK 50o
Single Cask Bottling
Distilled December 1964
Bottled March 2001
156 bottles
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Douglas Laing & Co, Ltd, Glasgow

BEN NEVIS

26 years old

50,3 %
LAST BOTTLE AND EMPTY
Distilled 1973
Bottled 1999
Cask No. 717
233 bottles
Ben Nevis Distillery (Fort William) Limited

BEN NEVIS

35 years old

LAST BOTTLE AND EMPTY

KAPOT GEVALLEN

50.1 %

HART BROTHERS´
FINEST SELECTION
CASK STRENGHT
A Rare Vintage Bottling
Distilled April 1967
Matured in Sherry wood
Bottled 2002
Hart Brothers Limited

BEN NEVIS

26 years old

53,2 %
Distilled in 1973
Cask No. 750
Bottled in 1999
Ben Nevis Distillery (Fort William) Limited

BEN NEVIS

26 years old

53,9%
SINGLE HIGHLAND
MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
Distilled in 1975
Cask No. 945
Bottled in 2001
237 bottles
Genummerde flessen
Ben Nevis Distillery (Fort William) Limited

BEN NEVIS

over 39 years old

40,2%

Vintage Single Highland Malt
Scotch Whisky
HART BROTHERS
FINEST COLLECTION
EDITION
SUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG MAGAZIN
Brenndatum: März 1966
Fass: Sherry Butt
Fassnummer: 1775
Abfülldatum: Oktober 2005
Anzahl der Flaschen: 180
Nummerierte Flaschen
Nicht kühl- gefiltert
Whisky Abfuller:
Hart Brothers Ltd, Glasgow

Hart Brothers is a family business specialishing in the bottling of fine rare Single Malt Scotch Whiskies. Brothers Alistair and Donald Hart have been in The Whisky Trade for over 30 years and have used their expert knowledge to aquire some of the finest Malt Whiskies available in Scotland.

Dieser über 39 Jahre gereifte Single Highland Scotch Malt Whisky verkörpert ein Meisterstück des Whisky-Brennens.

Die jahrzehntelange Lagerung verleiht ihm eine ausgesprochen weiche, ausgewogene Note. Durch die langen Reifejahre hat sich der Alkoholgehalt auf natürliche Art und Weise auf die oben angegebene Volumemprozentangabe vermindert. Damit halten Sie einen fassstarken, nicht kühl-gefilterten Whisky in den Handen.

Von Hand etikettiert, beschriftet und nummeriert, ist jede Flasche ein kostbares Einzelstück.

München, im Oktober 2005

Best Barrel, München, Frank- Michael Boer Stefan Berndt

BEN NEVIS

13 years old

61,6 %

DOUBLE WOOD MATURED
PORT WOOD FINISH
Single West Highland Malt Whisky
CASK STRENGHT
Distilled on 9th November 1990
Filled into refill hogsheads
Transferred into a
port bodega butt number 03/10/01
on 12th February 2003
Bottled 10th March 2004
800 Numbered Bottles
Ben Nevis Distillery (Fort William) Ltd.
Lochy Bridge, Fort William.

This single west highland malt - one of only two distilleries on the west highland mainland of Scotland - and the only one to draw its production water from Scotland's highest mountain, was produced in 1990, when the distillery was brought into production after having lain 'Silent’ for 4 years.

In 1990 the company installed a new boiler, mash tun and fermentation room prior to producing this spirit, which was matured in refill oak hogsheads before spending its last year of matuartion in this fresh dumped port bodega butt.

Distillery Manager: Alex. W. Ross.

BEN NEVIS

Aged 7 years

43 %

LAST BOTTLE AND EMPTY
BATTLEHILL
Distilled: 1998
Bottled: 2005
Exclusively Bottled by Duncan Taylor & Co,
Huntly, Aberdeenshire

BEN NEVIS

1992

14 years old

46 %
Single Highland Malt
THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY SELECTION
Distilled: 03/07/92
Matured in a Sherry Butt
Cask no: 2302
Bottled: 25/04/07
Numbered Bottles
Natural Colour
Non Chillfiltered
The Ultimate Whisky Company, NL

BEN NEVIS

25 years old

56.0 %
SINGLE CASK. CASK STRENGHT
WEST HIGHLAND MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
Distilled in December 1984
DOUBLE WOOD MATURED
Cask No: 98 / 35 / 1
Vatted in Sherry Casks in October 1998
Bottled in January 2010
628 Numbered Bottles
Non - Chillfiltered
Ben Nevis Distillery (Fort .

BEN NEVIS

1 9 8 4

Aged 25 years

55,4 %
SINGLE CASK. CASK STRENGHT
DOUBLE WOOD MATURED
WEST HIGHLAND MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Distilled in December 1984
First filled into freshly dumped bourbon barrels
on 20th December 1984 and continued to
mature in these casks for almost 14 years until
on 14th October 1998 the whisky was vatted
transferred into freshly dumped sherry butts.
Maturation continued in these casks until this
particular cask was bottled in 2010 as a 25 Years
Old single west highland malt scotch whisky,
which we hope you will enjoy.
Vatted in sherry casks in October 1998
Cask No. 98 / 35 / 13
Bottled in may 2010
638 Numbered Bottles
Non - Chill Filtered
Ben Nevis Distillery (Fort Williams) Limited
Lochy Bridge, Fort William.

A second version of Ben Nevis, Coire Leis is made for the owners Nikka for their

blend Nikka Black.

From time to time Ben Nevis also made a peated malt but stopped it in 2006.

The vatting of Dew of Ben Nevis (a blend) is done at the distillery but is bottled

by Glen Turner, who’s owners are La Martiniquaise, since 2010 also the owners

of Glen Moray Glencoe.

Ben Nevis Single Malt Whiskies and the Vatted Malt Glen Coe are bottled by

Duncan Taylor.

BEN NEVIS

SIGNATORY VINTAGE SCOTCH WHISKY

Distilled on 14.12.90

Matured in a Sherry Butt

Butt No. 1376

Bottled 2.3. 99

Numbered Bottles

775 Bottles

This whisky has been selected, produced

and bottled in Scotland for and under the sole

responsibility of Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd

Edinburgh

BEN NEVIS

15 years old

51,7 %

Single Cask Highland Single Malt

Scotch Whisky

Bottling numbered by hand

Bottled in September 2012

Distilled in October 1996

This single malt from the Ben Nevis Distillery

was filled into a fresh sherry cask, number

1654 on 28th October 1996

The whisky was then left to mature in this

cask in Duty - Free Warehouse No. 3 for a
period of 15 years when it was considered

ready for bottling at cask strength, un - chill

filtered in September 2012

523 Bottles

Ben Nevis Distillery, (Fort William) Limited

Lochy Bridge, Fort William

BEN NEVIS

46 %

McDONALD’S CELEBRATED

TRADITIONAL BEN NEVIS

MALT WHISKY

SPECIALLY SELECTED

EXTRACTED FROM

PURE MALT ONLY

GUARANTED OF UNIFORM

AGE AND QUALITY

APPROXIMATELY 6 ½ BOTTLES

TO THE GALLON

Numbered Bottles

Ben Nevis Distillery (Fort Williams) Limited

Lochy Bridge, Fort William

In commemorationof the 185 years of the existence of the Ben Nevis Distillery

we have attemped to re – create this renowned whisky of almost 130 years

ago when, in 1882, this particular malt whisky was selling world – wide, many,

many more cases than all of the single malts that are si populair today. Hope –

fully the release of this whisky will help establish our image for traditionally

produced malts from Ben Nevis Distillery in the same manner as the original

release all those years ago.

Hopefully you enjoy this taste of traditional distilling history.

Colin W. Ross, Distillery Manager

Delving back into the history of our distillery we have discovered a number of interesting facets of distilling practices within our company.

In this whisky we have attempted, as far as possible, to replicate this famous, world – wide

distributed malt whisky dating from 1882.

At that time both the Ben Nevis and the Nevis Distilleries were producing malt spirit under

the leadership and ownership of Donald Peter McDonald, son of the famous Long John

McDonald, for use in the celebrated Dew of Ben Nevis Malt Whisky.

From our research we know that he had his own fleet of small ships, sourcing barley from

the rich fertile lands of the Moray Firth and coal from Ayrshire.

He also had his own peat moss on the lower slopes of the Ben Nevis mountain.

From this we can ascertain that at that time the stills would have been coal fired, and the

would lightly toast this Moray Firth barley during the malting process when the green

malt would have been dried in the kiln.

This malt whisky would have been sold at a younger age than is currently fashionable today.

Although the stills are no longer directly fired with coal, we currently use live steam from

our Cochran boiler to fire the stills, the old peat workings on the lowe slopes of Ben Nevis

have long since been exhausted, we have sourced our peated malted barley from indepen-

dent suppliers who continue to obtain their cereal from the fertile coastal plains of the

Moray Firth lands.

Sadly, the Nevis Distillery has now been demolished to make way for housing, so we have

to rely on production solely from Ben Nevis Distillery for this whisky.

However, we do believe that this whisky which was fermented with a mixture of fresh cul –

turse yeast and brewer’s yeast ( skimmed and pressed from beer fermentation) distilled

and then matured for at least five years, replicates, as near as possible, this renowed

original whisky from 1882, bottled almost 130 years later.

“Oh for a sight of Ben Nevis,

Methinks I see him now,

As the morning sunlight crimsoneth,

The snow - wreath on his brow;

As he shakes away the shadows,

His heart the sunshine thrills,

As he towers high and majestic,

Amid a thousand hills

As we passed Appin we catch sight of Ben Nevis, the monarch of the Mountains, and shall never

forget the appearance on that day. As a rule, fogs, clouds, or a hazy state of atmosphere often

the whole, but we were fortunate, and could see this gigantic mass almost from its base to its

summit. Its near presence and supreme dignity, standing out, as it does, from the surrounding

hills, awed us, and suggested the might and power of the Great Creator. As we looked on its

heights and glimmering peaks, dark projections of rock peered out and broke up the spacious

white mantle, whilst at the top the frozen snow glittered in the sunbeams, and contrasted

brilliantly with the black masses beneath”.

Thus wrote Alfred Barnard in his book, The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom published

in 1887, on his second trip to Fort Williams by steamer in winter to visit Donald P. McDonald’s

Nevis Distillery.

Earlier that year on “ a fair morning in summer “ Barnard also visited the Ben Nevis Distillery. Cast

your mind back to that golden age for Donald P. McDonald’s two malt distilleries, Ben Nevis and

Nevis, where on the property of the Ben Nevis Distilleries he built his handsome new pier for its

fleet of steamers. “On the landward part of the quay there is a neathly built block of houses

occupied by the Distillery employees, and a row of warehouses for general supplies and stores

for the works “.

If Barnard it to be believed there were 200 employed at the distilleries with a further 30 on the

distillery farm. The malt whisky emanating from this two distilleires was sold under the trade –

mark of ‘Long John’s Celebrated Dew of Ben Nevis’, with D.P. McDonald paying respect to his

father for the founding of the company.

Pour yourself a dram and experience the fine taste of whisky which we believe could have been

produced back in that successful period in our company’s history

BEN NEVIS

46 %
1 9 9 2
Matured for 21 years
Highland Single Malt
THE ULTIMATE SINGLE MALT
SCOTCH WHISKY
Distilled: 03/07/92
Matured in a Sherry Butt
Cask no: 2312
Bottled: 16/08/13
695 Numbered Bottles
Natural Colour
Non Chill Filtered
Selected by The Ultimate Whisky company.NL

BEN NEVIS
Established 1825
15 years old

57.3 %
SINGLE CASK
HIGHLAND SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
Distilled 23rd June 1998
Matured in Sherry Cask No. 590 of 1998
Bottled in May 2014
Bottling numbered by hand
582 Numbered Bottles
Bottle No: 115
This single malt from Ben Nevis Distillery was filled into a fresh sherry butt, number 590
On 23 rd June 1998. The whisky was then left to mature in this cask in Duty - Free
Warehouse No. 3 for a period of 15 years when it was considered ready for bottling at
cask strength, un - chill filtered, in May 2014.
Product of Scotland
Ben Nevis Distillery (Fort William) Limited,
Lochy Bridge, Fort William

This west highland malt, now one of only three malt distilleries situated in the west highland

mainland of Scotland – and the only one to draw its production water from Scotland’s

highest mountain – Ben Nevis – was produced in 1998.

We felt this cask of Ben Nevis malt, aged in a sherry butt No. 590, was worthy of being bottled on its own for you to enjoy.

This cask was matured in our Duty – Free Warehouse No. 3 at the Ben Nevis distillery,

located on the outskirts of Fort William.

The distillery and warehouses are nestled in the shadow of this great mountain, from

which the distillery proudly takes its name.

Even after 15 years of the angel’s claiming their share from this cask we were still able

to fill, at cask strength, a total of 582 bottles.

We sincerely hope you will enjoy this expression of our single cask, single malt whisky.

Colin W. Ross, Managing Director

BEN NEVIS
Established 1825
21 years old

59.8 %
SINGLE CASK
HIGHLAND SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
Distilled November 1990
MATURED IN PORT WOOD
Initially this cask, produced in November 1990
was filled into refill hogsheads at 72.5 % vol.
After 13 years the contents of these casks were
vatted then filled into port bodega butts
This particular cask was then allowed to continue
maturing for a further 8 years to allow this whisky
to languish in this new home and to draw and
absorb some of the unique characteristics from
the cask creating this different slant on Ben Nevis
single malt whisky.
Matured in a Port Bodega Butt No. 3/10/4
As this is a more mature Ben Nevis Malt we felt it
worthy of releasing some 200 in a crystal decanter
and two glasses boxed presentation set with the
remaining 625 in what is coming to be recognized
as our Ben Nevis malt bottle
Bottled in September 2012
Bottling numbered by hand
825 Numbered Bottles
Bottle No: 662
This single malt from Ben Nevis Distillery was filled into a fresh sherry butt, number 590
On 23 rd June 1998. The whisky was then left to mature in this cask in Duty - Free
Warehouse No. 3 for a period of 15 years when it was considered ready for bottling at
cask strength, un - chill filtered, in May 2014.
Product of Scotland
Ben Nevis Distillery (Fort William) Limited,
Lochy Bridge, Fort William
Colin W. Ross, Distillery Manager

BEN NEVIS

Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Aged 26 years

57.3 %

Signatory Vintage

Cask Strenght Collection

Distilled: 05/07/1991

Matured in a Sherry Butt

Cask No: 2377

Bottled: 30/11/2017

599 Bottles

Bottle No: 483

Natural Colour

Casks individually selected and bottled

by Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky Co,

Pitlochry

BEN NEVIS

BUTTERSCOTCH, SPICE, NUTS, WARM

Fort William, Inverness-shire. Licentiehouder: Ben Nevis Distillery (Fort William) Ltd. Eigendom van The Nikka Whisky Distilling Co, Ltd, Japan.

Gebouwd in 1825 door 'Long John' Macdonald, een voor die tijd heel grote man van 1.93 meter, afstammeling van de koningen van Argyll, dat de Westelijke Hoog- en Eilanden omvatte.

Het was de eerste legale distilleerderij in dit gebied. Hij noemde zijn whisky 'Long John's Dew of Ben Nevis',eerst uitgebracht als een single malt whisky, later omstreeks 1906 als een blended whisky.

In 1848 bezocht Koningin Victoria Fort William en bij die gelegenheid kreeg zij een vat Ben Nevisaangeboden die aangeslagen mocht worden wanneer de Prins van Wales, de latere koning Edward VII, meerderjarig werd, dat was vijftien jaar later.

'Long John' Macdonald stierf in 1856 en werd opgevolgd door zijn zoon Donald Peter, die zo succesvol was dat hij een tweede distilleerderij kon bouwen, de Glen Nevis, die vele jaren in produktie was maar in 1908 werd gesloten.

Donald Peter werd opgevolgd door zijn zoons John en Archibald William die in 1911 het merk 'Long John',dat was de blend, verkochten aan Chaplin's van Tower Hill, een firma die handelde in gin en wijn.

In 1936 werd deze firma door de in 1805 gestichtte Seager, Evans & Co, Ltd, gin producenten te Londen, overgenomen. Seager Evans had de eerste stap in deSchotse whiskyindustrie in 1927 gezet met het bouwen van de Strathclyde graan distilleerderij.

In 1936 kocht men Glenugie, toen de meest oostelijk gelegen distilleerderij.

In 1953 werden de beperkingen op het maken van whisky door de regering afgeschaft en een overname- en uitbreidingsgolf was het gevolg.

In 1955 werd Ben Nevis overgenomen door Joseph W. Hobbs, die een vermogen had verdiend en verloren door whisky te smokkelen tijden de Amerikaanse drooglegging, vanuit Canada.

Hij was in 1930 teruggekeerd naar Schotland en met hulp van Amerikaanse partners kocht hij Bruichladdich, Glenury Royal, Glenlochy, North Esk, (Old) Fettercairn, Benromach en Strath-dee.

De bedoeling was om na beëindiging van de drooglegging Schotse whisky te gaan leveren in de Verenigde Staten.

In Ben Nevis instaleerde hij, evenals in Lochside een patent still, om graanwhisky te produceren. Dit was in de jaren zestig.

Hij blendde de malt- en graanwhisky meteen nadat ze waren gedistilleerd, hij noemde deze werkwijze 'blending at birth'.

De uitkomst was gevarieerd en niet altijd van gelijke kwaliteit.

Joseph W. Hobbs kocht ook Inverlochy Castle,begon een enorme veefarm in Amerikaanse stijl kompleet met cowboys. Na zijn dood ging Inverlochy Castle dienst doen als luxe hotel.

Ben Nevis lies on land since 1929 owned by an Australian aluminium smelter Rio Tinto Alcan Inc and in 1950 sold to G.F.G. Alliance a Canadian group

founded by the British Gupta Family. The Alliance's integrated business model encompasses mining, energy, metalls and engoneering.

A 99 year lease exists and Ben Nevis can also produce for an other 30 years their whisky.

Joseph W. Hobbs had zijn belangen in de Schotse whiskyindustrie intussen verkocht.

Schenley Industries uit de Verenigde Staten nam Seager Evans & Co Ltd over en in 1957 werd Kinclaith, een malt distilleerderij naast de Strathclyde graandistilleerderij gebouwd, in 1957 The Tormore en in 1962 werd een 25 % belang genomen in Laphroaig, gevolgd door de gehele overname in 1972.

In 1969 toen er weer een recessie heerste in de whiskyindustrie beperkten de Strathclyde-, Kinclaith-, Glenugie-, The Tormore- en Laphroaigdistilleerderijen hun produktie. In 1969 werd de Glen Alden Corporation, de eigenaar van Schenley Industries overgenomen door Rapid American Incoporated.

In 1971 veranderde Seager Evans & Co Ltd zijn naam in Long John International Ltd. In 1975 wordt Long John overgenomen door de bierbrouwers Whitbread. Kinclaith werd ontmanteld in 1975.

In 1981 wordt Ben Nevis gekocht en werd het merk 'Long John' weer herenigd met de distilleerderij Ben Nevis. Glenugie werd ontmanteld in 1985, de patent still werd verwijderd bij Ben Nevis en in 1986 werd Ben Nevis gesloten.

In 1988 koopt Nikka Whisky Distillery Company, Japan Ben Nevis.

Ook dit is een geschiedenis op zichzelf: in haar boek: Japanese Whisky, Scotch Blend beschrijft Olive Checkland de band tussen de familie Nikka en Schotland.

Na de eerste wereldoorlog bezocht Masataka Taketsuru Schotland, studeerde aan de universiteit van Glasgow, werkte bij enige distilleerderij en, Hazelburn en Longmorn.

Hij werd verliefd op een Schotse, Rita Cowen, en keerde in 1920 naar Japan terug met de bedoeling een eigen distilleerderij te stichten.

Toen Matataka Taketsuru in 1979 stierf liet hij een bedrijf na, dat onder de leiding van zijh geadopteerde zoon, Takeshi Taketsuru in 1989 Ben Nevis kocht.

Er werd enorm geïnvesteerd, onder andere in een bezoekerscentrum.

In 1990 wordt Ben Nevis weer opgestart. Ook in 1990 verkoopt Whitbread The Tormore en Laphroaig aan Allied Dostillers Ltd.

Het produktiewater komt van de Allt a' Mhuilinn, die zijn water krijgt van twee kleine meertjes in Coire Leisen Coire na Ciste op de berg Ben Nevis.

Ben Nevis heeft vier met stoom verhitte ketels met een produktiecapaciteit van 750 liter spirit per jaar.

Onder de leiding van Colin Ross, de distilleerderij manager zijn vaten met whisky, gedistilleerd tussen 1984 en 1986 overgestoken op nieuwe sherry- en bourbonvaten. Elk jaar worden vijf tot zeven vaten met whiskies van 19 tot 26 jaar op vatsterkte gebotteld. De standaard malt is tien jaar oud.

Sinds 2002 werden er bij Ben Nevis twee verschillende distillaten geproduceerd: de een met een vergisting van 48 uur in de rvs gistkuipen, de tweede

met een vergisting van 96 uur in Oregon pine kuipen, het product van het laatste distillaat, Coire Leis genaamd werd als spirit naar Japan verzonden

en gebruikt in de Nikka Blacj blend. Deze gewoonte werd in 2014 stopgezet en de fermentatie tijd werd toen 48 uur.

Het water komt van twee bronnen: Coire an Ciste en Coire Leis op de Ben Nevis.

De Mash tun is 9,5 ton.

De zes Wash backs zijn elk 50.000 liter.

De twee Wash stills zijn elk 25.000 liter, de twee Spirit stills elk 20.000 liter en worden door middel van spiralen met stoom verhit.

De capaciteit is 500.000 liter spirit per jaar.

1825

Gesticht door 'Long' John McDonald and

Angus McDonnell

Output is 13.150 ltrs spirit

The first name of the distillery was Benevas

1828

Output is 13,.929 ltrs spirit

1829

Output is 15.902 ltrs spirit

1830

Output is 21.130 ltrs spirit

1831

Benevas name is now Ben Nevis

The Licensees are MacDonald & MacDonald

Output is now 19.211 ltrs spirit

1832

Ouput is 24.326 ltrs spirit

1833

Ouput is 37.318 ltrs spirit

1848

Koningin Victoria bezoekt de distilleerderij

The name of the whisky is Long John's

Dew of Ben nevis Whisky

1856

'Long' John McDonald sterft

Zijn zoon Donald P. McDonald volgt

hem op

1878

Er wordt een tweede distilleerderij

naast de 'oude' gebouwd: Nevis

1908

de twee distilleerderijen worden

samengevoegd

1941

D.P. McDonalds & Sons wordt verkocht

aan Ben Nevis Distillery Ltd,

Eigendom van Joseph W. Hobbs, die bezig

was een keten van

distilleerderijen in Schotland op te kopen,

om van de te verwachtte vraag naar

whisky, na de oorlog, te profiteren

Hobbs had al eerder Glenesk, Glenury Royal,

Bruichladdich gekocht

1945

Ben Nevis starts a limited production

1949

Ben Nevis in full production

1955

Installatie van een kontinue ketel: naast malt

kan er nu ook

grain whisky worden geproduceerd.

Hetzelfde zou een paar jaar later ook bij Lochside

gebeuren.

This became "Blended at Birth

1957

Hobbs koopt Lochside distillery

1964

Hobbs sterft,

1978

Ben Nevis closes

1981

Joseph Hobbs Jr verkoopt Ben Nevis aan

Long John International, toen het eigendom

van de bierbrouwers Whitbread

1984

Ben Nevis weer opgestart na een verbouwing

van £ 2 miljoen

De kontinue ketels werden verwijderd

Stainless steel tanks are bought from the

closed Glenugie distillery

Manager is Colin Ross

Output is 650.000 ltrs

1986

Ben Nevis sluit

Colin Ross manager of Laphroaig

1989

Nikka Whisky Distilling Company Ltd, wordt

de eigenaar van de merknaam Ben Nevis

op 1 Februari 1989 door de

overname van James Burrough Distillers

de gedistilleerd tak van Whitbread

en iets later de distillerderij

Takeshi Taketsuru, owner of Nikka

son of Masataka Taketsuru kwam

voor deze gelegenheid naar Schotland

Zijn vader had in de jaren dertig de

kunst van het distilleren geleerd ij

Schotland o.a. bij hazelburn en Mortlach

1990

Ben Nevis opgestart

1991

Bezoekerscentrum wordt geopend

1996

Ben Nevis 10 years old geïntroduceerd

Manager (2005) is Colin Ross

De kapaciteit is 2.000.000 liter spirit per jaar

2006

A 13 year Port Wood Finish is released

2010

A 25 year old is released

2011

McDonald's Traditional Ben Nevis is

released

2014

Forgotten Bottlings are introduced

2015

A 40 year old Blended by Birth Single

Blend is released

2018

Ben Nevis 10 year old Batch No.1 is

released

2019

Colin Ross gaat op een en zeventig

jarige leeftijd met pensioen

Minus twee jaar bij Laphroaig is

hij dan 36 jaar manager geweest van

Ben Nevis

2020

Capacity: 2.000.000 Ltrs

Output: 1.960.000 Ltrs

+ 40.000 Ltrs made from

heavily peated barley

x deel van deze gegevens:

Whisky Passion nr 3 -2020

Robin Brilleman zie voor

zijn boeken Library op

deze website

2018

Ben Nevis 10 years old Batch No. 1 launched

2021

The Design of the 10 years old is revamped,

also Coire Leis is released

JOSEPH HOBBS

Shipping magnate. Naval veteran. Bootlegger. Cattle rancher. Joseph Hobbs was all of these things – and, to boot, one of the leading lights of the 20th centuryScotch whisky industry.

Joseph Hobbs was one of whisky's most colourful characters

Some said he shot down a Zeppelin during the First World War. Others insisted that he built Canada’s tallest skyscraper, and that he was a bootlegger during Prohibition in the US. There was even a rumour that he smuggled guns into Spain during the Civil War…

Joseph William Hobbs was the ‘Great Gatsby’ of theScotch whisky world: everyone had a story about him, but his past was clouded in mystery. Who was he? Where did he come from? And how did this whisky industry outsider acquire the business contacts required to become one of Scotland’s leading distillery owners?

Only sketchy details exist of Josephs early years. It seems that he was born in Hampshire in 1891, and emigrated with his family to farm 480 acres in British Columbia. During the First World War, he returned to the UK and served in the Royal Navy aboard a destroyer, before becoming an airman. After the war, he joined the Canadian naval reserve with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

There is a story that Josephs found work as a salesman for Gilbey’s during the 1920s, but the evidence for his involvement in the drinks business is somewhat hazy. Except, that is, for his involvement in the shipment of Scotch and other spirits to

As president of shipping company Hobbs Brothers Ltd,Joe owned the cargo ship Lillehorn, the sleek steam yacht Stadacona and a fleet of smaller vessels such as the Naden and the Hurryon which were involved in running booze into California during Prohibition.

The ships were often given unpronounceable new names, such as Kuyakuzmt, to confuse the US authorities, and they were involved in the transport of many hundreds of thousands of cases of whisky and other contraband to the California during the 1920s.

The liquid cargoes were not only shipped from Canada and Mexico. Geoffrey Cousins’ official history of William Teacher & Sons recounts how, during the 1920s, the Scottish firm sent tens of thousands of cases of Teacher’s Highland Cream in quart bottles to Antwerp, where they were loaded on to the Lillehornand shipped via the Panama Canal to the west coast of the US.

The whisky was then transferred from the mother ship to speedboats and other small vessels, and smuggled ashore for distribution to local bootleggers – the standard modus operandi adopted by Hobbs for delivering his shipments to Californian customers.

Prohibition-era America

Joseph Hobbs made a fortune from bootlegging during Prohibition

No-one knows how much money Joe made from his whisky ‘re-exportation’ business during the 1920s, but we do know that he had other, more respectable commercial interests.

For example, he was vice-president of a Toronto firm of stockbrokers, G. A Stimson. That firm was involved in one of the most spectacular Canadian building projects of the 1920s, raising the finance for the construction of the famous art deco Marine Building in downtown

When it opened in 1930, the Marine Building was the highest skyscraper in the British Commonwealth.Unfortunately, its opening coincided with the onset of the Great Depression and it proved almost impossible to fill the building with commercial tenants. Stimson & Cowent bust in 1933; Hobbs lost a fortune, and the precocious entrepreneur had to look to pastures new

After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, American companies rushed to secure supplies of Scotch to import legally to the US. Hobbs and two partners, Hatim Attari and Alexander Tolmie, set up Associated Scottish Distillers (ASD) to help them out. The new firm worked closely with Train & McIntyre, a Scotchwhisky company that had recently become a subsidiary of the American conglomerate, National Distillers.

In 1936, ASD acquired Glenury Royal Distillery in Stonehaven, buying Glenlochy and Bruichladdich a year later. Glenesk, Fettercairn and Benromach were added in 1938, and Train & McIntyre transferredStrathdee to ASD’s management. Glenesk was converted to a grain distillery (renamed Montrose) that year, to ensure supplies of grain whisky that were independent of the dominant player in the grain whisky market, The Distillers Company Ltd.

Under Joseph Hobbs leadership, ASD had become a major force in the Scotch whisky world, and supplied vast quantities of blended Scotch for the US market. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the Second World Warin 1939 led to shortages and disruption to production, and the firm was unable to exploit its assets to the full. After the war, the group was broken up, and National Distillers sold Train & McIntyre to DCL in 1953.

Undaunted by the stalling of his latest whisky venture, Hobbs returned to the fray after the war. He was convinced that large multinational companies such asDCL, Seagram and Hiram Walker were working to establish a cartel, to drive entrepreneurs like him out of the Scotch whisky business. Much of the rest of his life was spent in challenging the might of these industry giants.

Hobbs like some others, feared that the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) was dominated by the multinationals and no longer represented the interests of small independent firms. In 1952 he was the driving force in the formation of the Independent Scotch Whisky Association, a rival trade organisation which, under his charismatic chairmanship, became a thorn in the side of the SWA. At the same time, he set out to re-establish a business that was not reliant on fillings from the industry’s giants.

First, he returned to the acquisition trail. During the 1930s, he had set up a company called Macnab Distilleries as a vehicle to acquire and operate the Glen Mavis Distillery. The sale fell through, but Hobbs kept the company name. In 1955, Macnab Distilleries acquired the Ben Nevis Distillery, once associated with the famous Long John brand.

Hobbs installed a Coffey still and began making both single malts and grain whiskies there. He claimed that by blending his whiskies on site, and allowing them to marry for long periods in the wood in his warehouses, he was able to produce superior blended Scotch to those of his competitors.

In 1956, Macnab Distilleries purchased the Lochside Brewery in Montrose, and Joseph Hobbs built a grain and a malt whisky distillery on the premises. Once again, he was able to make, blend and bottle his own whiskies, without relying on any other company for fillings. His was a truly independent whisky company.

Hobbs was not only famous in Scotland as a whisky baron. In 1944, he bought the grand Inverlochy Castle and its vast estates in Inverness-shire. He captured the imagination of schoolboys all over the country when he set up the Great Glen Cattle Ranchthere, and brought cowboys to the Highlands.

He retained his love of the sea, and his steam yacht Torlundy (an old landing craft which he converted after the Second World War) became well-known along theWest Coast of Scotland. A later acquisition, the Ocean Mist, was acquired a few years before his death in 1963. It is now serving as a floating restaurant in Leith.

There is no evidence that Hobbs was ever involved in gun-running, so only one question remains: did he really shoot down a Zeppelin?

The answer is no: that was the other Hobbs boy. Joe’sbrother Basil shot down the airship near Folkestone, and he was also credited with the sinking of two German U-Boats during the First World War. But that’s another story of another great character in the history of the whisky trade…

‘LONG JOHN’ MCDONALD

‘Long John’ McDonald was a giant of a man, andgiant of the Scotch whisky trade, in which – with his son Donald – he established one of the world’s most famous single malts.

The McDonalds used commercial stunts to promote Ben Nevis whisky

Ben Nevis distillery was famous in Victorian times as the home of Long John’s Dew of Ben Nevis, one of the best-known brands of Highland single malt Scotch whisky. Although the eponymous ‘Long John’ was not the founder of the business, he and his son Donald were the men who made it famous.

The distillery was built by Angus McDonnell in 1825 on the banks of the River Lochy, just outside Fort William at the foot of Britain’s highest mountain. He started making whisky there in February 1826, and production amounted to around 200 gallons a week. Some writers believe that he was a kinsman of ‘Long John’ McDonald (1799-1856), and that the latter may have worked for him at the distillery.

We know for certain that Long John became a partner in the business in 1830 and bought Angus McDonalds remaining stake for the large sum of £1,200 the following year.

As his nickname suggests, the new owner was a big man: reputedly 6ft 4in tall and powerfully built. One author described him as ‘a happy Hercules, the tallest man I ever beheld out of an exhibition’, and he was known as a great sportsman.

By the 1850s, newspaper reports of Queen Victoria’s Highland jaunts had captured the imagination of her subjects, and Ben Nevis had become a popular tourist attraction. Long John was the leader of what we might now call the local mountain rescue team, and was often called upon to help rescue tourists who got into difficulties while climbing its slopes.

Based at the foot of Ben Nevis, Long John was mountain rescue team leader

He featured in newspaper columns all over Britain in 1838, after a party including the young Duchess of Buccleuch got lost in the mist while ascending the mountain. The alarm was raised at nightfall and Long John set off in the dark, ringing a large bell, to find them. The lost souls were found and Long John brought her ladyship off the mountain on the back of his horse, using his plaid as her saddle.

As a businessman, Long John had a flair for publicity. In 1841 it was reported that Prince Augustus, the Duke of Sussex, was an aficionado of Long John’s whisky,and had two dozen bottles in his cellar. Another broadsheet reported that his whisky was supplied to

Long John even sent a cask to Buckingham Palace, to be broached on the 21st birthday of the Prince of Wales. The nation’s newspapers loved the story.

By the 1850s, Long John’s Ben Nevis whisky was available throughout Britain for 42 shillings (£2.10) per dozen, each bottle fitted with a ‘patent metallic capsule’ which prevented ‘the fraudulent substitution of any inferior article’. It was advertised as ‘highly esteemed for the excellence of its flavour and patronised by the Royal Family, the Duke of Buccleuch, and most of the Scottish nobility,’ and was ‘guaranteed pure and unblended’.

One wine and spirit merchant opined that ‘families will be convinced by a single trial that Ben Nevis Dew is truly a medicine’.

Long John’s whisky may have become famous, but his business was ailing. He had borrowed heavily to operate the distillery, having spent most of his capital on acquiring the business, and the banks were not patient when there was a downturn in the market for whisky. His estate was sequestrated in 1856, and the unfortunate bankrupt died soon afterwards.

After his father’s death, the young Donald Peter McDonald (1835-91) acquired the distillery and stocks, and breathed new life into the business. Now known asLong John’s Dew of Ben Nevis, it was sold with age statements varying between five and 11 years, ‘guaranteed pure and unblended and of great age and fine flavour’.

Donald supervised the expansion of the distillery. A concrete pier was built on the river, and a fleet of his own cargo ships was employed to carry whisky along the west coast of Scotland to Glasgow and other ports in the south.

In 1878, with demand soaring, Donald built a new distillery alongside the old and called it Nevis. He designed many of the buildings himself, using concrete in place of traditional brick or masonry where possible, and a bustling village was laid out to accommodate his employees and their families.

When whisky writer Alfred Barnard visited in 1886, the original distillery was producing more than 150,000 gallons of single malt whisky each year, while Nevis was turning out over 250,000 gallons. Barnard recorded a workforce of 30 men employed at Ben Nevis and 200 more at the new distillery, although many of the men worked on shared services such as warehousing, coopering and carting.

While much of the demand for the whisky came from blenders, Long John’s Dew of Ben Nevis remained, arguably, the world’s best-known single malt brand. The National Guardian reported in 1888 that ‘the demand for this most excellent of Highland malts is very considerable and steadily advancing in France’.

It was also exported to English-speaking countries such as Australia and the US. In every case, great play was made of the fact that Long John’s Dew of Ben Nevis was a single malt: ‘A fine Highland whisky in its pure natural state and not blended with grain spirit’.

Its fame was boosted by the talent for promotion that Donald had evidently learned from his father. When the British Medical Association issued a report on alcohol-related diseases, for example, he quickly adopted some of its findings in his advertising, to suggest that drinking Long John might prolong life expectancy.

Donald died in 1891, leaving a personal fortune of more than £110,000. The business was inherited by his sons, but it appears that they tired of the challenge to sell single malt in a market increasingly dominated by heavily-promoted blended whiskies.

In 1911, they sold the Long John trademark to the wine and spirits merchant W. H Chaplin & Co, and one of the most famous names in the world of single malt whisky became a blended Scotch.

BEN NEVIS KICKS OFF SCOTTISH FOLKLORE MALTS

June 2018

A 45-year-old bottling of Ben Nevis is the first of aScottish folklore-themed series of single malts launched by whisky company Cask 88.

Ben Nevis 45 Year Old Cù-Sìth

The Ben Nevis bottling will be the first of six in the series

The 1972 whisky is named Cù-Sìth after a ‘terrifying’ large hound, reputed to possess a murderous bark and to stalk the Highlands, preying upon weary travellers.

Anyone who hears the beast bark three times, it is said, will be instantly transported to the underworld.

Bottled at 43.2% abv, drawn from a Sherry hogshead and priced at £650 per 70cl bottle, 228 bottles of Cù Sìth Ben Nevis 45-year-old are available now from Cask 88’s online bottle shop.

The Scottish Folklore series will comprise six single cask whiskies, each featuring a different mythical beast.

‘We intend to create a fantastic collection of some of the finest Scottish whiskies, selected to represent the breadth and depth of Scotland’s world-renowned culture and heritage, while playing our part in ensuring these enchanting myths and folk tales endure for generations to come,’ said Cask 88 European sales director Jonny Fowle.

Cask 88 worked with art historian and Celtic expert Dr Frances Fowle to understand the history of the Cù-Sìth legend and its place in Scottish folklore.

When Macdonald’s Traditional Ben Nevis was launched in 2011, it was said to be an homage to old-style whiskies, but to be honest that is what Ben Nevis has always made.

The washbacks are wooden and, more significantly, brewer’s yeast is used, making this the last distillery in Scotland to insist on this old way of inducing fermentation. Distillation is slow and steady, giving a rich, deep distillate which matures well in ex-Sherry casks where a ripe, chewy texture is produced.

It was in 1825 that ‘Long’ John Macdonald took out a licence for his Ben Nevis distillery on the outskirts of Fort William and close to Britain’s highest mountain. His son Peter took up the reins soon after and built a significant business. By the end of the 19th century, when blended Scotch was becoming the fashion, Long John’s Dew of Ben Nevis was a successful single malt brand.

Such was the popularity of the MacDonald’s whisky that Peter built a second distillery, ‘Nevis’, which ran in tandem with the original unit. At one point, over 200 people were employed in this virtual whisky city.

This golden age was not to last. In 1908 Nevis closed and its sister plant operated intermittently until 1941when the colourful Canadian entrepreneur (and former bootlegger) Joseph Hobbs bought the firm. The Long John brand name had already been sold to Seager Evans, and Hobbs sold off the former Nevis site to Associated Scottish Distilleries. Closed during WWII, Hobbs restarted production in 1955 when he installed a Coffey still. He then started to blend his malt and grain together before maturing.

The distillery fell silent in 1978, but production started again, along with much needed refurbishment, in 1981 when it was bought, appropriately enough, by Long John International – by then the whisky division of the brewer Whitbread. In 1989, Long John sold it to the Japanese distiller Nikka which had been buying malt and grain from the distillery for a number of years.

Ben Nevis has continued in production and has split its whisky between bulk supplies for Japan, the Dew of Ben Nevis and Macdonalds of Glencoe blends, and single malt bottlings, which start with a 10-year-old expression but in recent years have been extended to include Macdonald’s Traditional Ben Nevis which includes smokier components. Whisky from one of the last ‘Blended At Birth’ casks appeared as a 40-year-old in 2002.

CAPACITY (MLPA) i

1.5

CONDENSER TYPE i

Shell and tube

FERMENTATION TIME i

48hrs, longer at weekends

FILLING STRENGTH i

63.4%

GRIST WEIGHT (T) i

8.5

HEAT SOURCE i

Steam

MALT SPECIFICATION i

Normally Speyside Type, low/occasionally 30-35ppm

MALT SUPPLIER i

Various, usually all major U.K. malt supplier companies

MASH TUN MATERIAL i

Stainless Steel

MASH TUN TYPE i

Lauter (Newmill)

NEW-MAKE STRENGTH i

70%

SPIRIT STILL SHAPE i

Plain, deep base

SPIRIT STILL SIZE (L) i

22,730

STILLS i

4 (2 Wash, 2 Spirit)

WAREHOUSING i

5 dunnage plus 1 racked

WASH STILL CHARGE (L) i

25,000

WASH STILL SHAPE i

Plain, with a large, deep,

straight sided bottom

WASH STILL SIZE (L) i

36,368

WASHBACK SIZE (L) i

50,000

WASHBACK TYPE i

6 Steel, 2 Pine

WASHBACKS i

WATER SOURCE i

Allt a Mhullin burn

WORT CLARITY i

Clear

YEAST TYPE i

Brewer's/pressed

Asahi Group Holdings logo

Asahi Group Holdings

1989 - present

Ben Nevis Distillery (Fort William)

Whitbread & Co

1981 - 1989

Joseph W Hobbs

1955 - 1981

DP MacDonald & Sons

1856 - 1955

John MacDonald

1825 - 1856

Ben Nevis Distillery ship 75 % of their production in the form of new make to their owners in Japan, Nikka Asahi Breweries, for the blend Black Nikka.

Output in 2018 : 2.000.000 litres alcohol, 50.000 Ltrs are heavily peated and 75 % is send to Japan and used for the blended whisky from Nikka

Outpur in 2019: 2.000.000 litrs alcohol

2019

Colin Ross ritered after 55 years in the whisky industry in autumn 2019, and is succeeded by Asoichiro Harada.

April 2021 Colin Ross passed away, 73 years old