Cadenheads Ben Nevis 25yo Authentic Collection June 2025 & Cadenhead’s Tullibardine 12yo Authentic Collection June 2025

Cadenheads Ben Nevis 25yo Authentic Collection June 2025

Region: Highlands

ABV: 52.2%

Price: £235.00

Distilled in 1999 and matured for a full quarter century in a bourbon hogshead, this Ben Nevis was bottled in June 2025 for Cadenhead’s June Authentic Collection drop. Only 168 bottles were released.

Nose

On the nose there's orange zest, rice paper, mango, whipped cream, and raspberry jam. With air the dram shows sugar cubes, strawberry laces, ripe pear, freshly baked bread and apple juice. The alcohol integration is good with little to no alcohol prickle. Though it does noses a touch younger than twenty five years old, there’s definitely complexity here.

Palate

Citrus fruits on the front end of the palate transitions into more tropical fruits on the mid palate. There’s apple purée, tangerine, kiwi and plenty of mango. A cracked black pepper spice appears on the medium finish with the aforementioned notes. With air caramelised brown sugar and milk chocolate appear. It has a good mouthfeel. A little spicy for the age, but the palate, like the nose, has a fair amount of complexity.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose is creamier overall, but some of those tropical fruit notes are now muted. A sour green apple note appears with patience, reminding us of Granny Smith apples. There’s also dried wood and more freshly baked bread. The alcohol prickle is more noticeable now. Personally, we slightly prefer the undiluted nose.

Palate (with water)

Sour apple shows first then orange rind, toffee, light tobacco and brown sugar. Mouthfeel holds but is slightly thinner. The pepper spice has changed to cinnamon. The finish stays a medium length with enough sweetness to balance that spice. Again we prefer the undiluted dram as this feels a touch simpler now.

Conclusion

A very enjoyable older Ben Nevis that offers plenty of fruit, but falls a little short in providing the range of flavours we needed for to take it to the next level. Keep the water away, it doesn’t ruin it, but the dram looses more than it gains.

Score: 7/10

Value

At £235 it’s competitively priced for a twenty five year single cask. Sadly for us the liquid doesn’t quite deliver the knockout punch to make it an automatic buy, but Ben Nevis devotees might think otherwise.

Cadenhead’s Tullibardine 12yo Authentic Collection June 2025

Region: Highlands

ABV: 54.7%

Price: £60.00

Distilled in 2012 and finished in a Pedro Ximénez sherry hogshead from 2021, this Tullibardine was bottled in June 2025 after 12 years of maturation. Just 210 bottles were released.

Nose

The first sniff lands firmly in savoury PX territory, giving beef olives, barbecue burnt ends, and rancio. Allowing the whisky a minute or two of air brings out cherry cola, treacle, and prunes, while the alcohol remains well balanced it’s initially a bit one note. Patience reveals pot-pourri, clove, tart raspberry jam, cinnamon biscuits, and a faint hint of pine cones. The sherry still does most of the talking, but the dram does gain more layers with patience.

Palate

The palate is led by freshly roasted coffee, aniseed, and cloves that transition into fizzy Tizer, treacle, dark chocolate, and runny honey. A hint of cinnamon spice joins everything on a medium finish. Good mouthfeel that has a syrup like quality. The Tullibardine spirit is largely hidden behind the sherry influence, but what’s here is enjoyable.

Nose (with water)

A small splash of water pushes many of the pre diluted note into the background and brings out warehouse funk, freshly shaved oak staves, and a hint of cocoa. Raspberry jam is the most noticeable pre dilution note to still be showing. Beef Monster Munch appears with patience, but overall it’s just a little muted now.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has held up better than the nose, but more spice now pops up on the finish, while the mid palate has gained a back bacon note, more darker chocolate, liquorice, and aniseed. The mouthfeel has held up and the finish is relatively unchanged.

Conclusion

A well executed PX finish that delivers plenty of sherry flavour, even if the distillery spirit never quite steps forward to make itself known. It’s tasty neat, develops reasonably in the glass, and holds up well with a few drops of water, but its best side shows without dilution.

Score: 7/10

Value

At sixty pounds, the bottle sits more than comfortably in fair value territory for a single cask, cask strength Sherry bomb.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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