Ben Nevis The Duchess 12 Years Old Cask 117 54.7% 2012

Distillery	Ben Nevis
Bottler	The Duchess
Serie	GAME & WILDLIFE SERIES
Bottled for
Distilled date	24.04.2012
Bottling date	06.11.2024
Country	Scotland
Region	Highlands
Age	12
Cask Type	Bourbon Hogshead
Cask Number	117
Alcohol %	54.7%
Volume	0,70
Condition	Perfect
Label	Perfect
Stock	124

Professional reviews

BOW (89)

Words of Whisky (89)

Spot on. Haven’t always been a fan of this profile, but I certainly appreciate it now.
Nose
Right, immediately funky and a very outspoken Ben Nevis. There’s a touch of brass and copper, as well as candied lemons and Greek yoghurt. Then slivers of sourdough, fruity hops and chalk, followed by a tinge of mustard powder and even some rhubarb.
Taste
Full of oils. Plenty of minerals too, alongside hints of walnuts and peanut skins. There’s a bit of pepper, some horseradish, green olives and a good amount of underripe lemon. Decidedly uncommercial and almost wacky, but quintessential Ben Nevis.
Finish
Medium length. Lingering lemons, chalk and grainy cereals. Also something brine-y.

Malt Fascination (86)

distillery with several faces that has been through some ups and downs through the years. Massively fruity in one era and insanely funky in the next. It seems to work best when those two aspects meet in the middle!

Sniff:
This has a dirty nose, and it’s glorious. Leather, vegemite, yeast, engine grease. Somehow pickled walnuts. A bit of sweetness from overripe fruits.

Sip:
The palate continues with the funky notes. It’s rather old fashioned and fatty, not entirely unlike Benromach. The ABV isn’t overly noticeable after a little while, and the fruity sweetness takes over. Quite juicy, but not without some yeasty vegemite-esque notes.

Swallow:
The finish veers right back to the nose and the rather singular focus on the ‘dirty’ notes. It’s rather fatty again, but turns slightly more dry after some seconds.

It’s a rather unique dram with the level of dirtiness, funkiness, whatever you want to call it. For me, it’s really interesting but a tad one directional. If you’re into this Ben Nevis style, you’ll love this, but if you want the fruity one, this might not be it.