{"product_id":"ben-nevis-10-year-old-2014-smws-single-1st-fill-oloroso-hogshead-finish-78-90-tempura-gateau-train-ride-highland-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2025-70cl","title":"Ben Nevis 10 Year Old 2014 SMWS Single 1st Fill Oloroso Hogshead Finish 78.90 Tempura Gateau Train Ride Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2025) 70cl","description":"\u003ch2\u003eBen Nevis 10 Year Old 2014 SMWS Single 1st Fill Oloroso Hogshead Finish 78.90 Tempura Gateau Train Ride Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2025) 70cl\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 of 192 bottles produced from a single bourbon cask finished in a 1st fill oloroso hogshead.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eScotch Malt Whisky Society\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas founded in Edinburgh in 1983 by Phillip 'Pip' Hills who, while travelling around Scotland in the 1970s, fell in love with whiskies drawn straight from the cask. After he expanded his syndicate the Society was purchased by Glenmorangie PLC in 2004. In 2015, the Society was sold back to private investors. In June 2021, the private owners floated the holding company The Artisanal Spirits Company plc on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt has a unique code system where the first number refers to the distillery and the second refers to the cask from which the bottle comes. SMWS also offers the largest range of distilleries of any independent bottler. These curiously named drams really do have something for every whisky lover!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe SMWS are one of the Britain's most revered independent bottlers with a worldwide network of partner bars with one mission of getting as much whisky at natural cask strength without water to different nations including USA, Canada, Switzerland, UK, Austria, Germany and many others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productView-descriptionWrap\"\u003eAs we sat in the carriage of an old steam train, a glass of cold-brew coffee cascaded over a glossy magazine and a leather satchel full of sultanas, cassia and chunks of Turkish delight. Stewed exotic fruits danced on the palate, balanced by a robust chewing tobacco, dates and black forest gâteau topped with singed raisins. Water gave both the nose and palate calligraphy ink, bramble jelly, enoki mushroom tempura and treacle tart, fudge and ginger. After four years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this to a first fill oloroso hogshead for the remainder of its maturation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout Ben Nevis\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Macdonald’s Traditional Ben Nevis was launched in 2011, it was said to be an homage to old-style whiskies, but to be honest that is what Ben Nevis has always made.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe washbacks are wooden and, more significantly, brewer’s yeast is used, making this the last distillery in Scotland to insist on this old way of inducing fermentation. Distillation is slow and steady, giving a rich, deep distillate which matures well in ex-Sherry casks where a ripe, chewy texture is produced.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was in 1825 that ‘Long’ John Macdonald took out a licence for his Ben Nevis distillery on the outskirts of Fort William and close to Britain’s highest mountain. His son Peter took up the reins soon after and built a significant business. By the end of the 19th century, when blended Scotch was becoming the fashion, Long John’s Dew of Ben Nevis was a successful single malt brand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSuch was the popularity of the MacDonald’s whisky that Peter built a second distillery, ‘Nevis’, which ran in tandem with the original unit. At one point, over 200 people were employed in this virtual whisky city.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis golden age was not to last. In 1908 Nevis closed and its sister plant operated intermittently until 1941 when the colourful Canadian entrepreneur (and former bootlegger) Joseph Hobbs bought the firm. The Long John brand name had already been sold to Seager Evans, and Hobbs sold off the former Nevis site to Associated Scottish Distilleries. Closed during WWII, Hobbs restarted production in 1955 when he installed a Coffey still. He then started to blend his malt and grain together before maturing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe distillery fell silent in 1978, but production started again, along with much needed refurbishment, in 1981 when it was bought, appropriately enough, by Long John International – by then the whisky division of the brewer Whitbread. In 1989, Long John sold it to the Japanese distiller Nikka which had been buying malt and grain from the distillery for a number of years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBen Nevis has continued in production and has split its whisky between bulk supplies for Japan, the Dew of Ben Nevis and Macdonalds of Glencoe blends, and single malt bottlings, which start with a 10-year-old expression but in recent years have been extended to include Macdonald’s Traditional Ben Nevis which includes smokier components. Whisky from one of the last ‘Blended At Birth’ casks appeared as a 40-year-old in 2002.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e59.7% ABV\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e70cl\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ben Nevis","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52792377246034,"sku":"BNEV10SMS78.90","price":149.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1052\/9737\/9666\/files\/BenNevis10YearOld2014SMWSSingle1stFillOlorosoHogsheadFinish78.90TempuraGateauTrainRideHighlandSingleMaltScotchWhisky_2025_70cl.jpg?v=1771970989","url":"https:\/\/whiskysituation.co.uk\/products\/ben-nevis-10-year-old-2014-smws-single-1st-fill-oloroso-hogshead-finish-78-90-tempura-gateau-train-ride-highland-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2025-70cl","provider":"Whisky Situation","version":"1.0","type":"link"}