When we talk about whisky  we all know the biggest selling whisky out there is blended whisky which is sold just about everywhere in the wold but my main passion is single malt and even closer to my heart is a single barrel that is cask strength, NCF and has absolutely no colour added whatsoever!  So when I get the chance to review these I do of course jump at the chance..  These days there are so many new companies starting out in the independent bottling side of things it becomes a dog eat dog kind of world with them all fighting for the small chunk of the market available,  so making sure you have a good product to release is paramount..

One such company is Claxtons who are a U.K. Based company working out of the city of York in the heart of Yorkshire..  Entirely family run this company is priding itself on the standard of releases so far and have high expectations for future releases, one of those future releases is this Ben Nevis 17yo which has matured in a single hogshead cask  since December 1998 and has been bottled in 2016  at 54% abv with of course no colour added and is NCF..

Nose.. Rich honey notes mingle with dried hay and soft ripe fruits. Touches of oak are present along with a milk chocolate aroma and soft citrus notes.

Palate.. Soft vanilla and honey notes coat the mouth with subtle spices and a whisper of oak. There is a faint hint of citrus peel along with toffee apple.

Finish.. A medium finish with an oaky sweetness..

Thoughts..  This is another solid release from Claxtons, and shows of the Ben Nevis  distillery rather well.. Very clean and fresh with a lovely sweetness balanced out rather nicely with some oak and subtle spices..

Thanks to Adrian from Claxtons for this official sample..