Live Auction
December 2024 AuctionEnding 06.01.2025
1981
75cl
UK + % VAT
#Ben Nevis 15 Year Old
#1760410
Current bid
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Closing
06 Jan 2025

Bottle Details

This incredibly unusual whisky was sourced from a collection of unlabelled bottles within sealed cases in a private cellar. The original 12-bottle cases were labelled 'Ben Nevis 15-year-old' and were sealed with packing tape with the company name Joseph Barber & Company Limited, which was liquidated in 1983. Its believed based on the rotation number printed on the outside of these cases that this was bottled in 1981.

Ben Nevis 15 Year Old Private Bottling

Ben Nevis distillery was built by \"Long\" John MacDonald in 1825, and was so popular by the end of the 19th century that at one point the estate employed over 200 people. After a series of closure and re-openings at the beginning of the 20th, it was eventually bought by former Canadian bootlegger, Joseph Hobbs. He installed a coffey still there in 1955, making Ben Nevis Scotland's first dual-operation distillery, and began to blend its malt and grain before filling it to cask. Sporadic closures again followed Hobb's death, with stability finally ensured in 1989 when it was bought by long-term customers, Nikka Whisky of Japan. Its turbulent history means there were few distillery bottlings until the launch of the 10 year old single malt in 1996, but casks had long been making their way to independent labels, and many of them are very highly praised.

This incredibly unusual whisky was sourced from a collection of unlabelled bottles within sealed cases in a private cellar. The original 12-bottle cases were labelled 'Ben Nevis 15-year-old' and were sealed with packing tape with the company name Joseph Barber and Company Limited, which was liquidated in 1983. Its believed based on the rotation number printed on the outside of these cases that this was bottled in 1981.

Please note there is no stated ABV, liquid volume, or any further information about this whisky printed on the glass or metal cap.

Distillery
Distillery status
Operational
Age
15 year old
Production Type
Single Malt
Region
Highland

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