Ben Nevis 1993/2009 (43%, Signatory Vintage ‘Decanter Collection’, cask #2689, 779 bottles)
I really dislike these silly, evaporation prone decanters I’m afraid to say. The number of bottles at 43% would suggest some kind of butt I suppose, let’s see. Colour: straw. Nose: we’re not too far from these 1996s with this rather elegant nose of lemon peel, soft waxes, mineral oils, bailed straw, olive oil and lighter medical notes of crushed aspirin. Some hessian sack cloth too. Beautiful, charismatic distillate. Even if the 43% does feel a tad lacking at times. In time there’s some lovely notes of fresh grapefruit and lemon. Mouth: soft delivery all on clean and crisp cereals, a soft buttery texture, fragrant notes of heather, moss, freshly chopped herbs, more olive oil and quite a few freshly baked breads. A tad on the gentle side but it’s pretty impeccable distillate. Finish: good length and getting increasingly grassy, nicely bitter, some peppery bite, chalky minerals and more cereal. Comments: It’s odd how it took the whisky world so long to wake up to Ben Nevis. I’m sure this funny wee bottling would have gone pretty far under the radar at the time of release. At cask strength I’m sure we would have been comfortably approaching 90 points.
SGP: 551 - 87 points.

Ben Nevis 21 yo ‘Batch 8’ (48.9%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, bottled 2018, sherry, 931 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: a beautifully lean, mineral and gentle sherry. Gingery, some golden syrup, tobacco leaf, mint tea, game meats and sultanas. Getting beautifully camphory and leathery with time. Notes of old books, brown bread, horseradish, asparagus soup, Scotch broth - generally very earthy, vegetal and ‘stocky’. Excellent and beautifully rounded. Mouth: has this wonderful gloopy quality you often find in these Ben Nevis. Waxy, oily, old tool boxes, mechanical oils, rags, sack cloth, canvass and putty. Notes of dried mushroom, more damp pipe tobacco, mineral oil and dried herbs like bay leaf and tarragon. Dangerously pleasurable whisky. Finish: long, warming, notes of orange peel, ginger in syrup, dried flowers, mint, treacle and light waxiness. Comments: I’m starting to feel they’re a style all to themselves these batches of Ben Nevis. Superb and generous whisky that offers many pleasures.
SGP: 651 - 89 points.

Ben Nevis 23 yo ‘Batch 10’ (48%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, bottled 2019, 558 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: a tad more brittle in terms of minerals but also more expressive in terms of fruitiness. Ripe orchard fruits, dried exotic fruits, pineapple cubes, dried banana chips, grapefruit peel, gooseberry and lighter notes of sunflower oil and toasted seeds. Also a rather silky waxiness. Again this feeling of generosity which I would characterise as an easy going and rather abundant profile which you just never tire of nosing or exploring. The fruitiness continues with these notes of dried apricots and tinned peaches in syrup. Some drier hints of marc de gewurtz, chamomile and various fruit teas. Also something that alludes to Moroccan spices. Great complexity. Mouth: Pow! Fantastic delivery, all on spices, fruit cordials, syrups, herbal extracts, lighter medical notes, waxes, mineral oils, toasted bread, camphor and a light chalkiness. Some sheep wool, turmeric, ointments and herbal cough medicines. Finish: good length and rather drying, bready, earthy, chalky and with bitter notes of citrus pith and dry cereals. Comments: Something of a rollercoaster dram with these rather changeable states between nose and palate. But it remains terrific at each stage and walks that rare tightrope of being entertaining and technically brilliant.
SGP: 751 - 90 points.

Ben Nevis 22 yo 1996/2019 (51.6%, The Whisky Show 2019, refill sherry butt, 519 bottles)
Sadly I missed the Whisky Show this year, so I’m inevitably late with these notes… Colour:  deep gold. Nose: we’re back to a leaner and more directly sherried profile. Lots of damp earth, tobaccos, game meats and some rather syrupy fruit notes. Tangerines, kumquat, papaya and dried mango. Exotic, bready, fatty, waxy and extremely ‘textural’ in style. More of these rather Moroccan spice style notes - whisky tagine perhaps. With water: develops more towards exotic fruits, oranges, mango juice, papaya, glazed pastries, hessian and red kola. Mouth: sweeter at first but overall it’s another that really delivers a terrific arrival. All on toasted Brazil nuts, milk chocolate, marmalade, waxes, soft earthiness, mint tea and more concentrated exotic fruits. Some bitter herbs, light medical notes and more pithy citrus qualities that keeps everything rather taut and fresh. With water: grapefruit juice, dried thyme, a rather drying waxiness, chalky minerals and maintaining this nicely fat earthiness. Finish: long, elegantly drying, bitter herbal notes, cough medicines, dried mint, old style shilling ales and some exotic fruit teas. Comments: quite simply, yet another great 1996 Ben Nevis. Balance, complexity, beauty, tension and power.
SGP: 661 - 90 points.

Clynelish 26 yo 1992/2019 (50.1%, Hidden Spirits, cask #CY9219, 193 bottles)
Serge published notes for this one earlier this year and caused some subsequent ‘financial irregularities’ on the secondary market where this bottle has since become rather sought after. Now, having said that, I recall being very impressed when I tasted it at Limburg. Time to do some proper notes of my own now. Colour: white wine. Nose: it’s the purity and freshness which strikes first. Wet rocks, chalk, plasticine, all manner of fresh fabrics and linens and lots of crushed sea shells. There’s a rather inky and medical side as well with note of gorse, citronella candles, bandages and things like myrtle and wintergreen. You also get this rather punchy and almost visceral impression of the base maltiness of the spirit; dusty malt bins and raw cereals galore. Powerful but irrefutably excellent and impressive. With water: still very medical with some new notes of cloves, hessian and mineral salts. In fact it does get rather more coastal and crisp. Mouth: wonderfully fat, gloopy, syrupy and waxy. A kind of medical waxiness, like lanolin, canvass, plasters and medical tinctures. It’s also rounder, sweeter and more generous than the nose suggests. Where before there was kind of brute austerity at play, here there’s more malt extract, citrus oils, heather ale and classical Clynelish waxiness giving superb texture. With water: big, generous and full of broad waxy, medical, cereal and mineral brush strokes. The texture becomes oilier, fuller - more towards mineral oil and herbal cough syrups. There’s no way around it: this is superb Clynelish! Finish: über long and very cereal, waxy, flinty, lightly peppery, saline, chalky and surprisingly floral and elegant. Comments: I can see why Serge fell in love such a bottling, there are touches of old Clynelish in the mix here. I love how it keeps developing and surprisingly you at every turn. And the palate is just dazzling!
SGP: 462 - 92 points. 

Clynelish 29 yo 1984/2014 (58.0%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #26.106 ‘Say it with flowers’, refill ex-sherry butt, 586 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: what’s funny is the striking similarities with the 1992 at first nosing. All on metal polish, sheep wool, chalks, rocks, oily rags, lanolin and with this similarly fusion of dryness, medicines, minerals and a more brittle waxiness. This very lovely citronella wax note is back as well. Only here you also have some dried flowers, baking soda, heather and sandalwood. A taut and thrillingly complex nose… With water: gets earthier and dustier with notes of hay loft, malt bins, wort and then eucalyptus vapour rubs. Mouth: pow! Just totally spellbinding! Riddled with minerals, chalk, bath salts, dried herbs, medical embrocations, sandalwood, gorse flowers and mint tea. The waxiness runs through it all like a structural lattice keeping everything in its place. The mouthfeel is also just glorious, like some kind of concentrated salted mead mixed with smoked olive oil. So much going on here, the complexity is just spellbinding! (Do the Anti-Maltoporn brigade charge for Christmas call-outs? If so please send the bill to a Mr S Valentin, Turckheim… ) With water: really perfect now, everything in its place. Minerals, wax, soot, cereal, medicine, coastal bite, seashells and a rather umami edge. Many broths, seasoning sauces and hints of cured meats. A kind of hypnotic old Clynelish that remains stunningly fresh, crisp and complex. Finish: long, bright, coastal and bursting with citric acidity, crisp cereals, pebbles, medical tinctures and an almost chewable lingering waxiness. Comments: We’re firmly in this kind of cask strength riesling territory that only older style malt whiskies seem to inhabit. This is why I just adore Clynelish. This kind of compelling alignment of balance, power, complexity, freshness, maturity and charisma is genuinely scarce and just puts so many other spirits to shame. 
SGP: 563 - 93 points. 

Glenfarclas 25 yo ‘London Edition’ (50.5%, OB for The Whisky Exchange, oloroso sherry casks)
This one comes hot off the bottling line, almost. Colour: gold. Nose: it’s one of these easy and rather leafy styles of sherry. Sultanas, prunes, young Calvados, wee hints of mead, milk chocolate and some nicely bitter marmalade. Clean and impressively fresh. With water: becomes straight away more bready and cereal. Notes of orange cordial, malt loaf and banana bread with walnuts. Works well with water. Mouth: gingery and rather warming at first. Some blood orange, peaches, green pepper and softer wood spices. The strength works quite well I think. Get’s a little more earthy and mushroomy over time with notes of dried herbs and bouillon stock. With water: feels sweeter and as on the nose there’s a rather cakey aspect arising: Guinness cake, fruit loaf and malt extract with quite a few dark fruits. Finish: medium and rather earthy, slightly sooty and wee notes of bitter chocolate, dried herbs and crystallised dark fruits. Comments: Very easy and enjoyable mid-aged Glenfarclas. The sherry has a deftness of touch which makes the whole very quaffable. Although I think it probably needs a tiny splash of water to show at its best. 
SGP: 541 - 85 points. 

Glenfarclas 1995/2018 Family Casks (52.1%, OB, cask #9, 4th fill butt, 575 bottles)
Colour: deep gold. Nose: golden syrup, gingerbread, cake mix and some rather leafy tobacco notes with a few green fruits scattered about the place too. Fruit scones, sultanas, gooseberry jam and some nice notes of malt extract and hessian. A rather fat, gloopy and fruity profile - which is most pleasing. With water: greener, fresher, brighter and a tad more pithy and citrusy. Cornflakes dusted with icing sugar and candied pecans. Mouth: Very bready at first, towards malt extract, fresh breads, dough, pastries, lemon curd, digestive biscuits and some dried banana chips. A nice rich texture that’s bolstered by notes of sunflower oil and more of these bready, autolytic impressions. With water: as on the nose, water seems to elevate the naturally sweeter side. Candied fruits, icing sugar, lemon barley water and some delicate herbal tea notes. Finish: medium and rather malty, herbal, rich and biscuity again - custard creams this time. Comments: I’ve tried enough of these Glenfarclas Family Casks that I feel encouraged every time I see the words ‘4th fill butt’. Anyway, this one was very good. 
SGP: 551 - 87 points.

Glenfarclas 1996/2018 Family Casks (58.9%, OB, cask #24, 4th fill butt, 515 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: this is very cool, you really feel like you’re getting up close and personal with the unvarnished Glenfarclas distillate character here. It’s all mineral oils, shoe polish, greenery, cereals, seeds, soft earthy tones, grassy olive oil and fresh fabrics. And what’s more, it remains wonderfully fresh and approachable even at full strength. With water: becomes a little drier, more chalky, more direct and austere. Notes of crushed aspirin, flints, pebbles, gravel and moss. Mouth: terrifically full and oily texture on arrival. Lots of putty, limestone, greenery, grassy notes, limoncello, very delicate medical notes, tiger balm, slightly sooty aspects and more of these cereal, polish and mineral qualities. Very good! With water: the texture is really terrific now, full bodied, buttery, thick and yet with this nicely chiselled, austere profile as well. Treads a line between intellectual and fun. Finish: long, peppery, slightly waxy, drying and full of soft notes of ink, grass, sunflower oil, mint tea, lemon peel and carbon paper. Comments: Really excellent, naked yet full bodied and complex Glenfarclas. One for those who dismiss refill wood as superfluous/naff/incidental (select as appropriate). 
SGP: 361 - 90 points.

Glenfarclas 1998/2018 Family Casks (54.8%, OB, cask #4455, 4th fill hogshead, 219 bottles)
Colour: light amber. Nose: the sherry is still very much present here. Although it’s still on the lighter and more elegant side of things with these very leafy tobacco and sultana notes. Hints of millionaire shortbread, dark grains, miso, brown bread and chopped dates. A nice seesaw between sweet and dry. With water: slightly spicier, still nicely bready, rich, autolytic and with quite a few dried dark fruits. Mouth: lovely arrival, all on spiced honey, baked pears, prunes in armagnac, sweet mint tea, apple crumble and madeira sponge cake. Some candied mixed nuts as well. Again this balance between sweet and dry. With water: again gets spicier, more earthy, more tobacco, slightly salty and brothy with dried herbs and a little waxiness. Finish: long, leathery, drying, some bitter chocolate, ginger, wood spices and warm tannins. Comments: Another very good one. A superbly elegant and light-footed sherry; you have to wonder how long the first three fills were for though? 
SGP: 451 - 88 points.

Glenfarclas 1999/2018 Family Casks (56%, OB, cask #7060, refill butt, 627 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: deeper, more profoundly earthy, chocolatey and much more meaty than the others. Pencil erasers, game pie, beef stock, treacle, Maggi seasoning and lamp oil. Rather fatter and more swollen than the others with a nice touch of natural grubbiness about it. With water: these more meaty and brusque earthy tones shy away and we’re left with more direct syrupy sweetness, fresh pastries, lemon cough drops and sweet coffee.  Mouth: a Snickers bar! All peanuts, milk chocolate, caramel sauce, treacle pudding, banoffee pie and some rather decadent custard made with posh dessert wine. Great syrupy texture and notes of caramelising brown sugar and toffee apples. With water: again a little more direct and classical. Clean notes of fresh brown bread, toasted seeds, bitter cocoa powder, golden syrup on toast and some darker fruit preserves. Finish: good length, slightly bitter and herbal with notes of liquorice, prune juice, dark chocolate and game meats. Comments: the epitome of a good refill sherry cask. Although there are a few moments which might prove a tad too ‘Mortlachy’ for some. 
SGP: 561 - 87 points.

Glenfarclas 2001/2018 Family Casks (56.9%, OB, #3297, refill hogshead, 284 bottles)
Colour: coppery gold. Nose: a rather striking mix of orange oils and limoncello at first. Lots of cocktail bitters, barley sugars, mixed citrus peel, bitter marmalade, travel sweets and blood orange. Parts of it leaning towards cough syrups and cherry throat sweets as well. Quite different and very enjoyable. With water: a wee touch of lemongrass, olive oil, warm breads and some fresh orange peel. Mouth: orangey, rather nutty and quite sugary. Like curaçao mixed with herbal bitters and marmalade. A good winter dram it would appear. Some soft tobacco notes in the background alongside sultanas and dates With water: winter mulling spices, herbal cough medicine, orange cordial and more barley sugars. Finish: medium and rather herbal, slightly bitter, more orange pith, some aniseed and more notes of cough medicine in the aftertaste. Comments: I didn’t mention refill ‘sherry’ hogshead, but there’s definitely some kind of sherry mystique about this one. Seasonally appropriate wintery ‘mulled’ whisky. 
SGP: 551 - 87 points.

Glenfarclas 2003/2018 Family Casks (58.3%, OB, cask #1963, 4th fill butt, 612 bottles)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: it’s one of these leafier and pleasantly lighter ones again. Lots of cereals, greenery, petrichor, citrus pith, chalk and pebbles. White pepper, hessian, newspaper ink, dried tarragon and a hint of menthol tobacco. This is a style I really enjoy I have to say. With water: dried are more towards fresh fabrics, linens, wool, clay, chalk and green tea with lemon. Also some rather grassy rapeseed oil. It’s very good but probably something you need to be in the mood for. Mouth: a direct and rather punchy arrival. Green pepper, lightly sooty, freshly bailed hay, caramelised oatmeal, runny honey, old shilling ales, melon and lemon curd. Big, quite gutsy and rather grown up malt whisky. With water: fruity museli, baking soda, pastry, dried apricots, bay leaf, moroccan spices. Still rather peppery, warming and lightly earthy. Finish: long, slightly mentholated and full of light wood spices, putty, coal dust, hefty cereals and buttery brown toast. Comments: Technically very good whisky, but probably a tad difficult in many ways. Fun to dissect with whisky pals but maybe not a go to dram of a quiet evening. Still, technically excellent. 
SGP: 461 - 88 points.

Glenfarclas 1975/1983 (54%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #1.3, sherry)
One of the very first bottlings from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. I remember fondly the 1.1 sister cask to this one which Serge recorded notes for on these pages last year (WF 88). Let’s see how this one compares… Colour: coffee. Nose: a world of difference from these Family Casks. This is deep, sticky and superbly dense old school sherry. Dates, fudge, toffee sauce, caramelising brown sugar, prunes soaked in Armagnac, old balsamic, rancio and even a slightly tarry edge. All manner of damp earth, cellar floors, tobaccos, sweet raisins, treacle sponge pudding and damson jam. Beautifully concentrated and emphatic. With water: more umami, more meaty, more gamey, earthy, fatty and with notes of hardwoods, fur and wild mushrooms. Mouth: these casks were purportedly quarter casks and so it’s no surprise they were already so full on and intense at such a youthful age. Lots of wet leaves, pipe tobacco, strawberry jam, dark fruit chutneys and preserves. Some herbal bitters, caraway and hints bicycle inner tube. Pretty powerful and serious stuff. With water: again it evolves towards meatiness, bitter herbal extracts, espresso, bitter chocolate, dried mint and cherry kirsch. Finish: long, nicely bitter, spicy, tannic, earthy and with more notes of umami, liquid seasonings, dried herbs and dark fruit cordials. More chocolate in the aftertaste. Comments: In many ways these are challenging, almost brutal young sherry bombs. But there’s a precision to the power and the overall might and structure is pretty emphatic and seductive. Hard not to be swayed by its rustic and sinewed charms. 
SGP: 461 - 90 points.