Long John MacDonald built Ben Nevis distillery in 1825 near Fort William and Britain's highest mountain, and sold its whisky as Long John's Dew of Ben Nevis.1,2,3 From 1955 it made grain whisky as well as malt, in a Coffey still that stayed until 1981.1,3,4Nikka, the Japanese distiller, has owned it since 1989.1,2,5
Very good review score, 87 out of 100Very good87/100
A bright, natural Ben Nevis with oranges, green apples and peaches, leading to a zesty, oily palate and a clean, peppery finish.
berry
black pepper
bourbon
candy
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By Ruben
Silent, 1978–1984
Producing, 1984–1986
Silent, 1986–1990
Producing, 1990–today
182519001950Today
Long John and his family
One heritage record instead says Angus McDonnell founded it in 1826 and the McDonald family developed it.1,2,3 In 1847 Queen Victoria visited, and Long John gave her a cask of his whisky.1,6 After Long John died in 1856, his son Donald P. MacDonald took charge.1,4,7 In 1878 a second distillery, Nevis, was built nearby to meet the growing demand.1,4,7 In 1887 Alfred Barnard found two wash stills, two spirit stills of 350 gallons and one of 500, all small pot stills, plus two worm tubs.8 The weekly output had grown from about 200 gallons forty years before to over 3,000 gallons.8 Nevis closed in 1908 and became warehousing for the Ben Nevis estate.4,7 In 1911 the Long John brand name was sold to the London merchant W.H. Chaplin & Co.9
Sources disagree: when it opened. This page uses 1825.
1825: Ben Nevis Distillery, ScotchWhisky.com (Whiskypedia), Whiskipedia, Historic Environment Scotland (trove.scot), Wikipedia1,2,4,7,8,12
Joseph Hobbs, a Canadian entrepreneur and former bootlegger, took ownership in 1944 and quickly sold off Nevis.1,2,3 In 1955 he restarted production with a Coffey still, which distils continuously, to make grain whisky, and blended it with his malt before maturing.1,3,4 After Hobbs died in 1964, his son Joseph Hobbs Jr. took over.1,4,10 Production stopped in 1978.1,4
Sources disagree: when Joseph Hobbs took over. This page uses 1944.
1944: Ben Nevis Distillery
Closed and restored
In 1981 Long John International, part of Whitbread & Co., bought the distillery, took out the Coffey still and used it only for warehousing and trial production.1,4,10 In 1984, after a £2 million restoration, it began making malt whisky again.1,4 Whitbread closed it again in 1986, two years after the refurbishment.1,4,6
Sources disagree: when it reopened. This page uses 1984.
1984: Ben Nevis Distillery, ScotchWhisky.com (Whiskypedia)1,4
1981: ScotchWhisky.com (Whiskypedia)
Under Nikka
1989–today
Nikka, owned by Asahi Group Holdings, had been buying malt and grain from the distillery for a number of years before it bought it.1,2,5 In 1990 a new mash tun, washbacks and boiler went in, and production started again.1,4 A visitor centre opened in 1991.1,7 Around one-third of its new spirit goes to Japan for the Nikka Black blend; its whisky also goes into today's Dew of Ben Nevis blend and single malts.4
Next: Under Nikka, How it makes its whisky
Bottles by year distilled
Every bottle in Peated with a vintage year.
Malt and grain, 1955–1981; Under Nikka, 1989–today
Its water comes from the Allt a’Mhuillin, a stream fed by Ben Nevis.2,7,11 It usually buys malt from major U.K. malt supplier companies, and the malt is low in peat, occasionally 30-35ppm.4 It has 8 washbacks, the tanks where fermentation takes place, made of wood or stainless steel.4,11 Fermentation lasts 48 hours.4,11 It distils first in 2 wash stills, then in 2 spirit stills.4,7,11 The stills are plain in shape and heated by steam.4 It uses shell and tube condensers.4 It can make 1,500,000 litres of alcohol a year.4 Slow, steady distillation gives a rich, deep new spirit.4
