Not sure if you knew but Ben Nevis seem to have taken your advice on board for the 2021 release of the 10yr. States natural colour and non chill filtered on label and doesn’t have the waffle on there. My bottle came today so I’m hoping it will be a step up from this one!
I visited the distillery in Fort William today. £45 from the shop. It’s so full of character and has one of the most engaging finishes of any whisky I’ve ever tasted. It’s definitely non-chill filtered and natural colour. Off to Pitlochry tomorrow to visit Blair Atholl and especially Edradour. Then off to Deanston the day after.
Ralfy I have to agree with you regarding the character of Ben Nevis. I love it and search out for their dusty official releases and great independent bottlings.
I found a Signatory 9 year old Ben Nevis. 46% Natural colour, non chill filtered $88nzd (44.36 pounds sterling) - this seems reasonable value Ralfy - what do you think?
The character of the Signatory Unchillfiltered Collection Ben Nevis 2010, 9 yrs, cask 129 is quite different from the OB 10 yrs. IMHO it misses a bit of the typical Ben Nevis “dirtiness and grittiness”. If possible, try before you buy.
Hi, I have this opened in my collection. It is good and I enjoy it but compared to the standard expression, it is more "civilised" but not any better, in my opinion.
is the glencoe, 8 year old, natural color, 58% blended malt from ben nevis worth checking out. i can see it retails around the same price as ben nevis 10.
Hi Ralfy, very competent review. I remember you replied to that youtube shooting star PewDiePie (did I get that right?) as he was tasting Japanese whiskies all over the place. Never bought a Japanese bottle until now as I could not find a single one to have value for the price they asked.
Alexander Murray...I have had one great one, and one very bad one. Decent pricing, mostly all 12 years plus selling almost exclusively through Total Wine stores. Has not fully established himself with consistent quality, but can definitely put out some good ones. Never had the Ben Nevis, but sounds interesting. Depending on price, I would have bought it.
Ralfy, I like the inclusion of 70+ points for basics. Should add some resolution/granularity to ratings. And perhaps some of us can see your opinion on some NAS bottles that are good without you compromising your own integrity 👍😎
I've been on the lookout, since you recommend it, 10 years ago. I only found an independent bottling from Battlehill. It had a bad cork, it was not drinkable. 😥
Hi Charles, I don't think the Benriach 10 or 12 would be a comparison. I don't think they are aggressive. The Ben Nevis, if not bad tempered, is a broody sort of whisky. I think it's likely to appeal to quite serious/experienced whisky drinkers on the lookout for something a bit different.
Welsh Toro, I bought the 12 Sherry Wood and it’s been quite different! Not unpleasant but not something I pour that frequently. I’m still a burgeoning whiskey drinker and am always looking for something a bit different. Thanks for the response!
Take a second look on the internet. There are some really good ones out there, full of integrity. Even if you have to import from Japan. Can be had without breaking the bank. Look for Ichiro's / Chichibu. Pure Japanese malt. Decent pricing, non chill filtered, only issue is no age statement. Under 90 dollars. Delicious balance.
@@Arturo-sm1tb thanks for the recommendation. I have Ichiro's Malt and a few others I brought back from Japan. My fav is Komagatake - Rindo which I paid around $80 and goes for much more here. The problem I have is most are without age statements and often bottled at 50cl but priced way way beyond a reasonable value proposition. I don't doubt there are good Japanese malts but when the equivalent scotch is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper, it is difficult to justify a purchase. I purchased Yamazaki 18 from the distillery in 2016 for $250 and was very disapointing, despite it going for 2-3x that price now. I would honestly take a Springbank 10y over that.
The Whisky Exchange just opened a third location in London not far from my house. Planning to visit there this weekend if I see this i will see if I can try it.
Excellent as always. Ralfy, Malt mates. Does anybody have any recommendations for a decent sub £100 drop to celebrate the end of dry January/toast to a new arrival? Big fan of sherry cask Islay at the moment.
longrow 18 from spingbank or ledaig 18 from tobermory do peat and sherry combination as well as almost any islay but u wont get much change from £100. ardbeg uigeadail, lagavulin distillers edition, laphroaig lore, kilchoman loch gorm or bunnahabhain toiteach a dha if sticking with islay and dont want to splash the whole lot.
Hi tom , yeah the longrow 18 & lediag 18 are very good , also the ballechin 15 cask strength from TWE but its just over £100 , its a real heavy weight peated sherry cask
Ralfy, if you’re changing to a 70-100 for basics does that open the door to reviewing non-age-statements and blends again? I personally would love to see an honest appraisal of these recent non-age-statement drama. Maybe hang a 70 on a deserving offender?
After 10 years of champion higher strength, why haven’t the distilleries caught on? They bottle higher strength for the USA. Maybe you could expound on why the disparity.
Nice review of this Ben Nevis! I hope you get a hold of the Cask Strength version which is great stuff! As for your assessment of Japanese whiskey, I do agree the integrity has gone down hill, with probably Chichibu being the one exception. Hopefully, Nikka and Suntory will get their act together someday!
@@thereformedreader Listen lad, all I want is to help you with your perception of whisky. 85 points ISN'T a belter. 90+ IS a belter. And I only move when I want to.
@@thewhiskybothy Well, I checked whiskybase, and you're right, seems to be a mainland europe problem. Most of the shoplinks link to shops located somewhere in the british isles. I personally am trying to get hold of another bottle of this for over a year now, it is nowhere to be found in mainland europe if you're not willing to pay at least double the initial price.
cool that you are rating this malt so low and saying even that the CS version is not worth it - yeah - so more is left for me to buy at a reasonable price...yeah
There will be a whisky crash in due time... accumulate your integrity malts while you can because once the collapse hits the majority of producers will scramble for volume and market share (or die) and that doesn't mean high quality will prevail.
thanks Ralfy for the review. hope you could feature ben nevis' IBs in the near future cos they they taste much better than this OB, e.g. whisky live paris 2019, thompson brothers, whisky agency, liquid treasures, and spirits shop selection.
Most of the cheaper consumer oriented ones, I agree. The few rare integrity malts from Japan, still excellent....you have to seek them out, and explore all the channels to obtain them. You will not find them at Costco.
Hi Ralfy. OK, I'm going to go on a rant here. You use the term "Sherry" a lot in this video. After years of reading and watching whisky reviews, I find the terms "Sherry", "Sherry notes" and "sherried" almost as bad as the use of the term "SMOOTH". Interestingly, you don't usually hear reviewers talking about how "Bourbony" a whisky is, yet "Sherry" is a term which seems to be thrown about too much without defining exactly what is meant by it. So what exactly do YOU mean by "Sherried"? Some might use it to signify that the whisky shows characteristics of having been matured in Ex-Sherry casks. The problem is that VERY often this term is used for expressions which I KNOW have been matured exclusively in Ex-Bourbon casks!! So what are they talking about? Moreover, when pushed, most reviewers admit to me that they have never actually drank a quality sherry or port in their lives, which is like telling us how "orangy" a whisky is, having never eaten an orange before. If they have drank sherry then it will problably be the Harvey's Bristal Cream type which is a million miles away from sherries used to season casks used to mature whisky. So you could argue that many use it as another term for fruity sweetness, yet there are many different kinds of fruity sweetness ranging from white, yellow, tropical, red to black fruits.Some "frutiness" comes from the distillate, some from the previous contents of the cask. Also, there are many different types of fortified wines, as well as white and red sherry. I assume that when YOU use the term sherry, you mean all the flavours associated with red/black fruits like raisins, prunes, dates, cherries etc...Others however, might not understand this.
@Ralfy. My point is that I know what you are talking about but I don't think many others do. I think it's important to mention at least once what those flavours associated with sherry cask maturationa are.
IMHO bourbon casks aren't really flavored by bourbon, they are de-flavored, bourbon distillate removes some of the harsh intensity. On the other hand sherry is a wine with a strong flavor even before aging, plus oxidation, and so sherry actually flavors casks with a distinct flavor.
@@alexk3088 Interesting comment Alex. I partially agree with you. I concur that First-Fill Ex-Wine and particularly Ex-Sherry (as its abv is higher), has a far greater flavour influence on the whisky. (Even this fact which is self evident to us is still disputed by many misguided people who claim that the flavour is 100% from the wood and not the sherry). However, there are some First-Fill Ex-Bourbon cask matured single malts which do have quite dominant Bourbon profile. Off the top of my head I can think of the Deanston 18 and Deanston 12, both exhibit a definite caramel popcorn corn-juice flavour which has come directly from the previous contents, ie Bourbon. A lot of the flavour is coming from the interaction of the Bourbon spirit and the charred casks.
@@RebMordechaiReviews that's true, I can't argue with that. Although I could say that it's remnants of what the oak has given to the spirit - first three bourbon and then the scotch, and not what the spirit gave to the oak. But certainly bourbon distillate has its own flavor, perhaps just not as intense or distinct as sherry. And I would also observe that some people, including Ralfy, DO talk about bourbony malts. So the OP question imho is anecdotal. Ex-bourbon and sherried are two main styles and everyone knows that.
Not sure if you knew but Ben Nevis seem to have taken your advice on board for the 2021 release of the 10yr. States natural colour and non chill filtered on label and doesn’t have the waffle on there. My bottle came today so I’m hoping it will be a step up from this one!
. . . good news !
I visited the distillery in Fort William today. £45 from the shop. It’s so full of character and has one of the most engaging finishes of any whisky I’ve ever tasted. It’s definitely non-chill filtered and natural colour.
Off to Pitlochry tomorrow to visit Blair Atholl and especially Edradour. Then off to Deanston the day after.
My favorite malt. (the older edition was pure fun) And the Glencoe 8...omg, what a whisky!
Ralfy I have to agree with you regarding the character of Ben Nevis. I love it and search out for their dusty official releases and great independent bottlings.
I found a Signatory 9 year old Ben Nevis. 46% Natural colour, non chill filtered $88nzd (44.36 pounds sterling) - this seems reasonable value Ralfy - what do you think?
. . . careful, check other review sites before risking the purchase.
The character of the Signatory Unchillfiltered Collection Ben Nevis 2010, 9 yrs, cask 129 is quite different from the OB 10 yrs. IMHO it misses a bit of the typical Ben Nevis “dirtiness and grittiness”. If possible, try before you buy.
Hi, I have this opened in my collection. It is good and I enjoy it but compared to the standard expression, it is more "civilised" but not any better, in my opinion.
@@bourbonryescotch1 Thank you ... I will try first (if possible)
@@kesfitzgerald1084 Interesting... Thank you.
Ralfy you Scotch sage of surpassing sagacity, did you do anything for Burn's Night?
. . . had a curry and herb tea !
@@thewhiskybothy
Ralfy didn't have Scotch on Burn's Night? I'm scandalized!
I love you start to separate the qualety stuff! Nice video
is the glencoe, 8 year old, natural color, 58% blended malt from ben nevis worth checking out. i can see it retails around the same price as ben nevis 10.
. . . can be decent !
Oh thank goodness, I thought Ralphy was going to praise this to the roof. It is hard enough to get it already.
I am quite relieved that Ralfy gave it a basic malt mark of 85. ;-)
Thanks Ralfy! Warmed me up ~ now curious - What Water did you add? *_Water of Life_* @ 4:35 ~ ~ without "flannel"?
. . . filtered tap water.
Do you have available a complete list of the whiskeys and ratings you've done so far?
ralfywhisky.webnode.be/ . Good luck.
@@thewhiskybothy Many thanks for the reference list, very helpful! Great TH-cam channel!
Ralfy, now this makes me wonder what kind of basic malt mark Clynelish 14 will get if it ever gets re-reviewed by you.
Hi Ralfy, very competent review. I remember you replied to that youtube shooting star PewDiePie (did I get that right?) as he was tasting Japanese whiskies all over the place. Never bought a Japanese bottle until now as I could not find a single one to have value for the price they asked.
picked up a bottle of Ben Nevis 17 year old - An Alexander Murray bottling from 1997. Not sure what to expect. Thoughts?
Alexander Murray...I have had one great one, and one very bad one. Decent pricing, mostly all 12 years plus selling almost exclusively through Total Wine stores. Has not fully established himself with consistent quality, but can definitely put out some good ones. Never had the Ben Nevis, but sounds interesting. Depending on price, I would have bought it.
Ralfy, I like the inclusion of 70+ points for basics. Should add some resolution/granularity to ratings. And perhaps some of us can see your opinion on some NAS bottles that are good without you compromising your own integrity 👍😎
I've been on the lookout, since you recommend it, 10 years ago. I only found an independent bottling from Battlehill. It had a bad cork, it was not drinkable. 😥
The old 10yo used to be one of my favorites... how does it compare to the new bottling?
. . . the new version is 'fresher' but retains the essential character asnd weight !
The 10 year cask strength is a real belter though. It's twice the price which is a bummer but it is a good one.
@@welshtoro3256 I've seen the 10 year CS for sale at $125. Is it worth a bother? They also have the Mcdonald version for sale at half price.
Have a independent bottling 18 year from Old Particular cask strength arriving tomorrow looking forward to trying it. Cheers Ralfy
Oh, I've never had that one. Wonder if i can get hold of it here in Sweden.
Would BenRiach 10 or the 12 sherry wood be a decent comparison in terms of aggressive nature?
Hi Charles, I don't think the Benriach 10 or 12 would be a comparison. I don't think they are aggressive. The Ben Nevis, if not bad tempered, is a broody sort of whisky. I think it's likely to appeal to quite serious/experienced whisky drinkers on the lookout for something a bit different.
Welsh Toro, I bought the 12 Sherry Wood and it’s been quite different! Not unpleasant but not something I pour that frequently. I’m still a burgeoning whiskey drinker and am always looking for something a bit different. Thanks for the response!
I do hope you open up marks from 70 soon Ralfy. It's going to get confusing having two sets of numbers otherwise.
Great review Ralfy...off to find a bottle at the right price.
Agree on Japanese whisky. Has been a while since I bought a bottle of Japanese malt
Take a second look on the internet. There are some really good ones out there, full of integrity. Even if you have to import from Japan. Can be had without breaking the bank. Look for Ichiro's / Chichibu. Pure Japanese malt. Decent pricing, non chill filtered, only issue is no age statement. Under 90 dollars. Delicious balance.
@@Arturo-sm1tb thanks for the recommendation. I have Ichiro's Malt and a few others I brought back from Japan. My fav is Komagatake - Rindo which I paid around $80 and goes for much more here. The problem I have is most are without age statements and often bottled at 50cl but priced way way beyond a reasonable value proposition. I don't doubt there are good Japanese malts but when the equivalent scotch is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper, it is difficult to justify a purchase. I purchased Yamazaki 18 from the distillery in 2016 for $250 and was very disapointing, despite it going for 2-3x that price now. I would honestly take a Springbank 10y over that.
I love Ben Nevis! Great review Ralfy. Slangevar 🥃🥃
The Whisky Exchange just opened a third location in London not far from my house. Planning to visit there this weekend if I see this i will see if I can try it.
Ralfy have you thought of a motorcycle tour of Scotland and USA Whiskey distilleries ?
. . . no plans !
Excellent as always.
Ralfy, Malt mates. Does anybody have any recommendations for a decent sub £100 drop to celebrate the end of dry January/toast to a new arrival? Big fan of sherry cask Islay at the moment.
longrow 18 from spingbank or ledaig 18 from tobermory do peat and sherry combination as well as almost any islay but u wont get much change from £100. ardbeg uigeadail, lagavulin distillers edition, laphroaig lore, kilchoman loch gorm or bunnahabhain toiteach a dha if sticking with islay and dont want to splash the whole lot.
Hello Tom. You could give a try to the last Kilkerran 8yo cs, oloroso matured. I love it.
Hi tom , yeah the longrow 18 & lediag 18 are very good , also the ballechin 15 cask strength from TWE but its just over £100 , its a real heavy weight peated sherry cask
@@brianmundie1647 hmm, that Ballechin sounds good to me... I'll search it!
@@un.uomo.assetato If you can get a hold on it. We are going to check that one of Kilkerran this weekend. Heard great things about that one. 😉
Nice whiskey, got a bottle from the distillery when I was up there in September.
Ralfy, if you’re changing to a 70-100 for basics does that open the door to reviewing non-age-statements and blends again? I personally would love to see an honest appraisal of these recent non-age-statement drama. Maybe hang a 70 on a deserving offender?
. . . that's an idea !
Great review!
After 10 years of champion higher strength, why haven’t the distilleries caught on? They bottle higher strength for the USA. Maybe you could expound on why the disparity.
Because all of us "malt mates" are likely not even a 1% of the market.
Opening this today same bottling
Ralfy have you ever thought about making a review video on those chocolates with whiskey in them or for a fun video review a bottle of root beer?
. . . no plans !
Ahhh...thank you for fixing the *f* for us anoraks. ;)
I only buy Japanese Whisky if the bottle still has Canadian Whisky printed in the bottle
Explain please
Jerry Barr most Japanese grain whisky is shipped in bulk from Canada by Beam Suntroy
Nice review of this Ben Nevis! I hope you get a hold of the Cask Strength version which is great stuff!
As for your assessment of Japanese whiskey, I do agree the integrity has gone down hill, with probably Chichibu being the one exception. Hopefully, Nikka and Suntory will get their act together someday!
Currently these are going for 150 euro, because its has been bought up and speculated on.
. . . sign of the times !
@@thewhiskybothy yes.. the best time to buy wiskey seems to be yesterday.
Congratulations for starting good old school British systematisation. 😉👍
Now that’s a word I haven’t seen in a while, I like it.
@@robfut9954 Thank you.
Sounds like a belter. Don't see it too often though...
So 85 points on a 80 to 100 points scale is a belter now.
Interesting.
@@fredlabosch5164 strong flavours 46% at 85 points would be a belter in my opinion. Move along...
@@thereformedreader Listen lad, all I want is to help you with your perception of whisky.
85 points ISN'T a belter.
90+ IS a belter.
And I only move when I want to.
Sorry for my opinion.
Hm Ben Nevis 10 is here in Japan only 43%.
Why would you review a Whisky that's been off of shelves for almost a year now Ralfy??!
. . . it's on the shelves where I am !
@@thewhiskybothy Well, I checked whiskybase, and you're right, seems to be a mainland europe problem.
Most of the shoplinks link to shops located somewhere in the british isles.
I personally am trying to get hold of another bottle of this for over a year now, it is nowhere to be found in mainland europe if you're not willing to pay at least double the initial price.
cool that you are rating this malt so low and saying even that the CS version is not worth it - yeah - so more is left for me to buy at a reasonable price...yeah
There will be a whisky crash in due time... accumulate your integrity malts while you can because once the collapse hits the majority of producers will scramble for volume and market share (or die) and that doesn't mean high quality will prevail.
📝
I like ben nevis its just a shame it feels forgoten i have 2 sealed bottles of ben nevis
RALFY!!!!
thanks Ralfy for the review. hope you could feature ben nevis' IBs in the near future cos they they taste much better than this OB, e.g. whisky live paris 2019, thompson brothers, whisky agency, liquid treasures, and spirits shop selection.
good one... *slàinte*
# Maximum Malty Mouthed Mild Mannered Maltsters
. . . now on the M-mention List, thanks !
I feel the same way towards Japanese whisky these days: they don't seem to have any distinct character; merely an imitation of Scotch whisky.
Most of the cheaper consumer oriented ones, I agree. The few rare integrity malts from Japan, still excellent....you have to seek them out, and explore all the channels to obtain them. You will not find them at Costco.
Hi Ralfy. OK, I'm going to go on a rant here.
You use the term "Sherry" a lot in this video. After years of reading and watching whisky reviews, I find the terms "Sherry", "Sherry notes" and "sherried" almost as bad as the use of the term "SMOOTH". Interestingly, you don't usually hear reviewers talking about how "Bourbony" a whisky is, yet "Sherry" is a term which seems to be thrown about too much without defining exactly what is meant by it.
So what exactly do YOU mean by "Sherried"? Some might use it to signify that the whisky shows characteristics of having been matured in Ex-Sherry casks.
The problem is that VERY often this term is used for expressions which I KNOW have been matured exclusively in Ex-Bourbon casks!! So what are they talking about?
Moreover, when pushed, most reviewers admit to me that they have never actually drank a quality sherry or port in their lives, which is like telling us how "orangy" a whisky is, having never eaten an orange before. If they have drank sherry then it will problably be the Harvey's Bristal Cream type which is a million miles away from sherries used to season casks used to mature whisky.
So you could argue that many use it as another term for fruity sweetness, yet there are many different kinds of fruity sweetness ranging from white, yellow, tropical, red to black fruits.Some "frutiness" comes from the distillate, some from the previous contents of the cask.
Also, there are many different types of fortified wines, as well as white and red sherry.
I assume that when YOU use the term sherry, you mean all the flavours associated with red/black fruits like raisins, prunes, dates, cherries etc...Others however, might not understand this.
. . . I mean the flavours associated with sherry, and use of sherry casks in maturation.
@Ralfy. My point is that I know what you are talking about but I don't think many others do. I think it's important to mention at least once what those flavours associated with sherry cask maturationa are.
IMHO bourbon casks aren't really flavored by bourbon, they are de-flavored, bourbon distillate removes some of the harsh intensity. On the other hand sherry is a wine with a strong flavor even before aging, plus oxidation, and so sherry actually flavors casks with a distinct flavor.
@@alexk3088 Interesting comment Alex. I partially agree with you. I concur that First-Fill Ex-Wine and particularly Ex-Sherry (as its abv is higher), has a far greater flavour influence on the whisky. (Even this fact which is self evident to us is still disputed by many misguided people who claim that the flavour is 100% from the wood and not the sherry).
However, there are some First-Fill Ex-Bourbon cask matured single malts which do have quite dominant Bourbon profile. Off the top of my head I can think of the Deanston 18 and Deanston 12, both exhibit a definite caramel popcorn corn-juice flavour which has come directly from the previous contents, ie Bourbon. A lot of the flavour is coming from the interaction of the Bourbon spirit and the charred casks.
@@RebMordechaiReviews that's true, I can't argue with that. Although I could say that it's remnants of what the oak has given to the spirit - first three bourbon and then the scotch, and not what the spirit gave to the oak. But certainly bourbon distillate has its own flavor, perhaps just not as intense or distinct as sherry. And I would also observe that some people, including Ralfy, DO talk about bourbony malts. So the OP question imho is anecdotal. Ex-bourbon and sherried are two main styles and everyone knows that.
"Japanese" whisky. Means nothing, stands for nothing. Integrity, my arse. Overrated. Glencoe 8, totally underrated. Slanjeevaurus 🐢
First
.
. . . Verified as First !
.
You magnificent bastdard 😎