Dramfool 37th Release - Ben Nevis 23yo

Whisky: Dramfool 37th Release - Ben Nevis 23yo

Region: Highland

ABV: 54.0%

Price: £125

You’ve probably heard of Dramfool from their collaboration with Jim McEwan on the Jim’s signature collection, but Dramfool’s founder Bruce Farquhar has been bottling for years under this label. This is his 37th release a 23yo bourbon cask Ben Nevis from the highly acclaimed 1996 vintage.

Nose

Sweet cereal grains, a touch coastal - a bit unexpected, Butter biscuits, some ripe pineapple. There’s some wood here but it’s nice balanced. Very promising on the nose.

Palate

A really nice mix of sweet vanilla buttercream on a tropical fruit-laced muffin, alcohol is there but in no way overpowers the flavours, in-fact it compliments them perfectly by leaving a lingering warmth on the medium length finish.

Nose (with water)

A bit of warehouse mustiness on the initial whiff, but orchard fruits and sweet creamy vanilla continue to shine.

Palate (with water)

Lemon peel, dark chocolate cake, some bitter oak notes too. Finish stays at a pleasant medium length.

Conclusion

When we initially opened and tasted the bottle, we weren’t too impressed. We had put this down to Bruce finally bottling a dud. Fortunately we were wrong this has been sitting at the back of the cupboard for 6 months or so before we decided to bring it out for a review, and Wow what a difference from our initial opinion. It was very closed off, but now is exploding with flavour, and we’re quite sad we don’t have a second bottle. Another cracking bottling from Dramfool.

Score: 8/10

• 10 - Perfection. A whisky that we’ll remember forever.
• 9 - Amazing. We’d pay through the nose for a bottle.
• 8 - Great. Pick this up at RRP.
• 7 - Good. Happy to have a dram or two but wouldn’t buy a bottle.
• 6 - Passable. Would accept a dram, but wouldn’t seek it out.
• 5 - Poor. Would drink if it was the only option.
• 4 - Bad. Maybe it can be saved by ginger beer?
• 3 - Awful. It can't be saved by ginger beer.
• 2 - Pour it out
• 1 - We’ve never tried a whisky rated this low and hopefully never will.

Have you tried Dramfool 37th Release - Ben Nevis 23yo? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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