Scotch Whisky Review #436: Duncan Taylor Ben Nevis 9 Year (2012)

Distillery: Ben Nevis.

Bottler: Duncan Taylor.

Region: Highland.

Age: 9 Year. Distilled in November of 2012, bottled in April of 2022.

ABV: 53.9%. Cask Strength.

Cask Number: 361719.

Color: 0.2, Pale Straw. Natural Color and Non Chill Filtered.

This dram is the tenth of 2022’s Christmas Countdown! Whiskies from previous years can be found here.

Every year, I look at the advent calendar offerings that pop up across the pond and think that it would be super cool to do something like that (it is actually the inspiration for my review spree in December). Turns out, I wasn’t the only one who wanted to do one so between /u/federalagents, /u/DangerousDoorknob, and I we put our own together! This is the ninth dram of the calendar. It was reviewed partially blind as in I know the whiskies in the calendar but not the order.

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Nose: There’s a bit of barnyard funk going on here with something that reminds me of hay and straw. It goes into a bit of a fruity and floral direction from there with green grapes and chamomile tea. Overall, it is quite light and smells delicious.

Palate: Much like the nose suggests it might be, it is quite bright. The straw/hay note starts things off before going into a very strong malt sugar note. A bit of water opens things up, the malt sugar note gets a slightly milky element to it. I’m reminded of the milk left in the bowl after you’ve had some Frosted Flakes.

Finish: Short. There’s a brief burst of chamomile tea.

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Guess: Scotland. Malt. Highland. 5-9 Year. Ex-Bourbon. 55-60% ABV. Ben Nevis 9 Year.

Reveal: Duncan Taylor Ben Nevis 9 Year (2012)

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Conclusion: It has been a bit since I’ve had some Ben Nevis, over a year according to the review archive, so I’m really pleased I managed to get this one on the nose! It’s a lovely, if simple, dram. The nose has the most complexity with the mix of barnyard funk, fruit, and floral tea. The palate is what kind of gave it away as a Ben Nevis with those cereal heavy notes. Not bad at all!

Final Score: 80.

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Scotch Whisky Review #436, Highland Review #86, Whisky Network Review #591

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky and I will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection if feasible.
• 85-89: Very good to amazing, almost the complete product and I’m likely wanting a bottle or two.
• 80-84: Quite good, pleasant overall though there is usually a few things that could be improved still.
• 75-79: Good, enjoyable to drink but ultimately flawed.
• 70-74: Alright, solid and wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.