Review #280 - SMWS 78.49 'I Hope You Like Jamming Too!' - Ben Nevis 12 Year

Our first Ben Nevis review, and it's from an independent bottler - this distillery isn't too easy to find in OB form. In addition to the fact that there's only one semi-regularly available OB option (a 10 year old, which isn't available in our area), a lot of this distillery's product is shipped overseas, to Japan, for use in Nikka's blended whiskies.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottled this single cask at 12 years old, and it's still at a whopping strength of 64.4% ABV. The cask selection was a first fill ex-bourbon barrel, relatively straightforward - hopefully, that leaves more of the distillate character intact. Then again, we're going to try to taste that character through the high ABV - that will be our first test. If we can find that character, it's rumored to contain themes of industrial funk, oily texture, and the occasional hint of smoke.

SMWS 78.49 'I Hope You Like Jamming Too!' - Ben Nevis 12 Year

Scotland/Highland - Single Malt

Price Paid: USD 130 (2023)

Age Statement: 12 Years

Strength: 64.4% ABV

Cask Makeup: First fill ex-bourbon barrel

Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; distilled March 19, 2009; 193 bottles

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 8 months; bottles at 100% (blind tasting), 80% (blind tasting), 70%, and 60% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes

Nose: The strength is evident immediately on the nose. Quite a wide range of scents across our tastings: sweeter perfume and wood sugars, brown sugar and clove add a baking element; there's a slight funk in here, like mushrooms and unusual umami notes. Hints of nutty character, with malt and chocolate later. Very dense, needs time to open up; later, hints of rubber and stronger oak.

Palate: A thick mouthfeel, and it is quite hot. Juicy, quite oaky, with lots of perfume and vanilla to start. There is a nice weighty character to the spirit, and some mineral and metallic notes arrive in the mid-palate. Hints of fruits like blueberry and blackberry appeared occasionally, and there's some dusty chocolate. Tropical fruits and cream arrived with air time; this is very complex and layered. Brown sugar, rum, pineapples, pear, and cinnamon were all one-off tasting notes; oak was a strong theme throughout.

Finish: Medium-long and still hot. Sweet oak and vanilla, lots of perfume, and sweetness from brown sugar, pineapple, and cardamom. Once in a while, a little bit of mango or stronger brown spice came forward.

Final Note: Among the many tasting notes we found across our different tastings with this whisky, a few main themes eventually came forward: strong oak, perfume, vanilla, and that spirity heat. This was quite dense at first - it benefited from a lot of time to open up in the glass, after which the palate and finish became more layered. Navigating that strength of more than 64% ABV was a bit of a task at first, but got easier with time.

This whisky is good, if a bit challenging at times; value is just okay, as the bottle was a bit pricey, and that doesn't factor in the SMWS membership fees, either.

Our Average Rating: 7.4 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 5.82