Scotland, Northern Highlands. Distillery operational. Owners: Ben Nevis Distillery Ltd, Nikka Whisky Distilling.

Founded in 1825, Ben Nevis' story is closely linked to that of the internationally renowned blend Long John. In 1831, Ben Nevis became the property of John MacDonald, who was nicknamed Long John due to his exceptional height. From 1955 to 1981, a Coffey still was installed at Ben Nevis, enabling it to distil both a grain spirit and a malt spirit. It was a production method dear to many Japanese distillers, including Nikka, who bought the distillery in 1989. To mark the occasion, the oldest cask of Ben Nevis was bottled, leading to the release of the highly sought-after Ben Nevis 1926 63 Year Old Under Strength, a limited edition of 98 bottles. Since then, Ben Nevis has continued to develop its individuality and maintains its exclusive character by offering extremely rare editions of its vintage single casks (1966, 1967, etc.) and small batch versions, such as Ben Nevis 1966 21 Year Old. Like Karuizawa, Ben Nevis is a robust malt that takes well to long maturation in ex-sherry casks.

A Ben Nevis 16 year old distilled in 1990 and bottled in 2007. Cadenhead was founded in 1842 by George Duncan, who was quickly joined by William Cadenhead who renamed the business after Duncan’’s death in 1858. When Cadenhead in turn passed away in 1904, his nephew Robert Duthie took over and turned the business into the independent bottler it is today. After Duthie, it was managed by one of his employees, Ann Olivier, whose stubborn approach to running the business led to much of the stock having to be sold at auction by Christie’’s (London) in 1972 to feed the kitty and save the business. It was then sold to J. & A. Mitchell and Co, who also owned Springbank, and moved to Campbeltown. Launched in the 1990s, the Authentic Collection marked the end of the previous two decades of bottlings at 46%, instead favouring cask strength releases. It became Cadenhead’’s main range. A limited edition of 720 bottles.