Ben Nevis 16 Year Old 1999 Hidden Spirits

Andrea Ferrari (what’s in a name?) was a well-known Italian whisky blogger, but in 2013 he decided to go pro and became an independent bottler. He christened his company Hidden Spirits, which focuses on single cask whisky. Thanks to a broad network, his releases can be found across the world - from Hong Kong whisky shops to Whisky-Händler in Deutschland and Australian whisky retailers - as well as stores in Bulgaria and the UK. In their so-call ‘highproof’ series, Andrea offers single casks at cask strength. This is a Ben Nevis that he released in 2016 at 57.4% ABV.

Very herbal nose in which the typical fruitiness of Ben Nevis is almost impossible to detect. Think wilted flowers, freshly cut green wood, roasted coffee beans and hay. It takes a while before some apricots and chocolate appears. Surprising and atypical, but I am not (yet) flabbergasted.

Much improvement on the palate, though. Rich fruity notes (apples followed by grapes and pears with some late apricot and a hint of mango) with some grapefruit and lemongrass. Lots of pepper now. Midpalate the bitterness kicks in again, but no woody notes. This is more bittersweet of fruit than tannins. Luckily. Very spicy indeed, giving it punch, but also a prickle.

The finish is fairly long, but just a tad too bitter to be really good.

Nice Ben Nevis, but too bitter. The nose could not convince me.

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