Ben Nevis 1996-2008 Sherry Wood Morgan Wilson

Ben Nevis 1996-2008 Sherry Wood Morgan Wilson is a limited-edition Ben Nevis single malt, released by independent bottler Morgan Wilson as part of the Barrel Selection range. The whisky was distilled in 1996 and matured in sherry casks for 12 years. It was bottled in 2008 at 46%. Ben Nevis’s history is shaped by the eccentric Canadian businessman Joseph Hobbs, who smuggled whiskey to the United States during Prohibition. He moved to Scotland in the 1920s and bought Ben Nevis, together with its sister plant Nevis, in 1941. That same year he sold the Nevis warehouses to the nearby Glenlochy distillery, but not before moving the Nevis wall and gate to Ben Nevis. The distillery still uses this historic gate today, but since it was not originally intended for the site, it has never been able to close properly… In 1955, Ben Nevis added a Coffey still and began producing both malt and grain whisky simultaneously – one of the first distilleries in Scotland to do so. Hobbs introduced the process of ‘blending at birth’: instead of first maturing the malt and grain spirits separately, they were blended at the start. He also experimented with unusual concrete wash backs, but these have since been removed and replaced by the more common stainless steel wash backs. Joseph Hobbs continued to operate Ben Nevis until his death in 1964.