The Single Cask is an independent whisky bottler and bar that started out in the UK, but now has chapters in Singapore and Japan.

As the name suggests, they focus on... you guessed it - single casks.

Their bars are stocked with their bottlers and they regularly bring in new single cask bottlings that are even selected by the folks who run the bar as well!

In Singapore, the Single Cask bar is a popular watering hole in the centre of town, located in a really vibrant historic estate called Chijmes that was once a Catholic convent but has since been restored and is filled with nightlife. Kinda ironic, but not the point. It's a really electric place, a real youth hotspot.

I got to try their new 1996 Ben Nevis that belongs to their new Family Series, which features images selected by the various folks behind The Single Cask. This one seems to be for the Japan chapter and I heard really good reviews about it. The 1996 vintage is often thought of as one of Ben Nevis' best modern vintages.

Let's give it a go! 

Ben Nevis 1996, 25 Years Old, The Single Cask Family Series, Hogshead No. 1332, 51.9% ABV - Review

Tasting Notes

Color: Sunflower Oil

Aroma: Immediately fruity - pineapple and mango gummies, peaches and cream, lots of vanilla cream, a little bit of lemon zest and then hay. It's very aromatic and enticing, rich and fruity, almost slightly confectionary and sweet. And then with some time, it evolves alittle more into ripened orchard fruits - nectarines. A ripe fruitiness. 

Taste: Creamy and buttery - and then again with the tropical fruits - nectarines, peaches and cream, apricots. Really lovely stuff. More vanilla cream. And then the classic Ben Nevis funk sets in - a sort of muskiness, unhusked barley, almost like air-dried meat or charcuterie - it's distinctive and apparent but not particularly pronounced here. The fruitiness is still very much forward. A little bit more of whipping cream or buttery pound cake. A touch of dark chocolate and black pepper.

Finish: Smooth and fairly long. It mostly recedes into a honeyed maltiness.

My Thoughts

Very enjoyable stuff! Lots of whiskies promise fruitiness because they know it's a huge draw but often don't deliver. This is not one of those. The fruits here are in gummy form on the aromas, and of freshly sliced orchard fruits and cream on the palate. Really fruity, creamy stuff that just draws you in. Flavors that are tough to hate unless you're truly averse to anything sweet.

I particularly enjoy how creamy it is and how on the palate that characteristic Ben Nevis funk shows up right on cue - that really nice oily musky charcuterie and almost farmhouse sort of flavor - a rawness or unpasteurised savory-umaminess of sorts.

It gives just that much more complexity. And on the finish a really nice richness that simply fades out.

You can find this at The Single Cask, there's one open by the pour at the Singapore chapter.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot