Ben Nevis

by James McElhenney
(Las Vegas, NV)

I discovered this unique highland malt while taking a vacation in Scotland.

We were staying in a cabin on a loch just outside of Fort William.

Of course we visited every distillery we passed, but it just so happened that the Ben Nevis distillery was in the village of Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis (the highest peak in The UK).

For those of you Gaelic challenged "Ben" is the Gaelic word for mountain, thus Ben(mountain) Nevis.

Anyway, after touring the Ben Nevis distillery and enduring the extremely campy video before the tour I tasted the smoothest and most delicious 10 year old Scotch Wisky you could imagine.

After moving home to the US after three years living in the UK I had all but given up finding this glorious nectar in The States. Until, much to my surprise I noticed the name Ben Nevis on the label of a bottle of Total Wine's store brand Battle Hill.

I talked to the store manager and discovered that Total Wine actually buys Ben Nevis (among other lesser known vintages of larger distilleries) and imports them. Now I'm able to re-live my Scottish vacation anytime with a quick visit to Total Wine.

I just realized that this sounds like a Total Wine advertisement.

Well, it isn't but I have to give credit where credit is due! Those guys rock!