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 single cask (#9559) Ben Nevis distilled in 1967 and bottled at cask strength in 2013 after 45 years of maturation in a refill hogshead for the Director’’s Cut range from independent bottler Douglas Laing. Director’’s Cut brought together the bottler’’s finest and often oldest casks, bottled at cask strength, with neither chillfiltration nor colouring. It was replaced by the Xtra Old Particular (XOP) range in 2013. Douglas Laing was founded in 1948 by Fred Douglas Laing, primarily as a blending company but also as an independent bottler, an activity which grew over the years. A limited edition of 169 bottles.