Ben Nevis 28Y (1996-2025) Sherry Butt 43.5 SC Wave Farewell To 2025 "The Whisky Agency"

Ben Nevis 28 Years Old [Wave Farewell To 2025 / The Whisky Agency] Distilled 1996 - Bottled 2025 - Matured in a Sherry Butt - 307 btl. - 43.5% abv.

Tasting Notes by WhiskyNotes: [90 Points]

Nose: starts entirely on earthy walnuts and moist tobacco leaves, followed by bitter orange peels and a hint of turmeric. Old metal tools, new rubber and sweet mustard. After a while some very ripe tropical notes appear, like mango and passion fruit. One strawberry even. Overall pretty disconcerting but also strangely interesting, I wonder where this is going on the palate.

Mouth: again there’s a dirtier side to it, with charcoal, orange peels, charcoal but also grilled vegetables and mustard. Not the bright juicy fruits of the less sherried versions. Then walnuts, just a little syrupy sweetness of herbal liqueur, as well as hints of oxidized Amontillado. Still some apricot and lightly tropical sweetness underneath, but they’re far from centre.

Finish: long, pretty thick, with marmalade and walnuts, perhaps raisins and a hint of liquorice.

A bit of a hardcore / intellectual bottling, in my opinion. I like the Amontillado notes of yore and the fruitiness in the background though. A funky one for insiders.