Launch of the 8th whisky for the City of Zwolle, Ben Nevis 15 YO

The city of Zwolle lies in the east of the Netherlands at 52°31′N 6°6′E. It has the reputation of being a "gourmet" city and houses several good restaurants, food places and bars.

Eric Bartels of Slijterij Bartels ("slijterij" is the Dutch word for liquor store or drink shop that is licensed to sell alcoholic beverages over 15% alcohol. Supermarkets in the Netherlands are not allowed to sell alcoholic beverages over 15%) took the initiative to bottle a cask of malt whisky for the City of Zwolle in cooperation with Dutch whisky writer Hans Offringa. One of the first bottlings, a Macallan, now has an estimated value of € 200. Other bottlings were Auchentoshan, Aberlour and Highland Park (fantastic dram).

On November 9th 2014 the latest edition was launched in Brasserie Jansen, numer 8 in line, a 15 YO Ben Nevis of 1998 vintage, single cask with an outturn of just 279 bottles, chosen by Hans Offringa. It has matured in a sherry butt, nr 1238. Label design was done by ms Laurien Stam, who also designed the other labels. Reason to introduce this expression in Brasserie was the fact that the facade of the Brasserie Jansen building is on the label.

Bottle no. 1 was presented to ms Elles Hetebrij, of a neighbouring pub, who recently won an important industry prize.

The video impression we made has English subtitles for your convenience.


Single cask bottelingen of Ben Nevis are not common.

Ben Nevis is a distillery located near the highest peak in the UL. It is owned by the Japanese company Nikka .Ben Nevis has a capacity of 1.5 million liters alcohol per annum.





Of course we had a wee sniff'n'taste. A very nice whisky indeed. If you want a bottle either for drinking or collecting (or both..) get in touch with Eric Bartels, because the bottles tend to sell out soon. price should be around € 65.



Here are our notes:

Colour: herbal tea, almost green (it's a non chill filtered Scotch, hurray!)

Nose: definately an autumn dram, apple pie, stewed plum, malt, coconut oil, hazelnut

Taste: creamy, oily/waxy, sweet (cane sugar), dark chocolate

Finish: medium long, pleasant, sweet


Sources: Whiskypedia, revised edition - Charles MacLean

www.bennevisdistillery.com

www.slijterijbartels.nl


©Whiskytips 2014

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