Ben Wyvis - Help compiling a list of 70cl Single Malts

[eelbrook]

Since I got a wee miniature of "Ben Wyvis", I've always been intrigued by its short history.

According to Ingvar Ronde, there have only been a few releases of "Ben Wyvis" Single Malt.

Firstly, Ingvar talks of a 1972 27 year old (OB) being released by Invergordon in 1999. I think that the three expressions of the 27 year old were:-

(a) Casks 744, 1058 & 1059 - 43% - 471 bottles;
(b) Cask 1061 - 43.1% - 146 bottles;
(c) Cask 745 - 45.9% - 187 bottles.

Secondly, Ingvar talks of Signatory having five casks. Two were unfit to bottle. However, the other three were released as 1968 31 year olds (IB) by Signaory in 2000. I think that the three expressions of the 31 year old were:

(d) Cask 686 - 50.1% - 84 bottles;
(e) Cask 687 - 52.6% - 151 bottles;
(f) Cask ??? - ?????% - ???? bottles

Thirdly, Ingvar talks of a 1965 37 year old (OB) being released by Kyndal (Whyte & Mackay) in 2002. I think that details of this expression were:

(g) Cask 300066 - 44% - 200 bottles.


Can anyone :-

(i) Provide details of the third Signatory cask (f)?
(ii) Give details of any other single malt bottlings?

[Quaich1]

Not one of my areas of experise but these specific mini expressions meaning "Hill of Terror" in Scottish Gaelic, provide a very interesting thread for further feedback.
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"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[William]

Here is a bit of info about Ben Wyvis, some of which you may already know.

The original/first Ben Wyvis distillery was built in 1879 in Dingwall Ross-shire and was also called Ferintosh, it was a large distillery for its time. The distillery closed in 1926 but the warehouses continued to be used for a long time after it closed and i believe the warehouses can still be seen next to the Inverness-Wick railway line. No bottlings are known to exist from the original Ben Wyvis distillery.

In 1965 the Ben Wyvis distillery name reappeared when the Invergordon Grain Distillery built a new Ben Wyvis distillery within the Invergordon distillery complex and similarly to the original Ben Wyvis it had a very short life. It was closed and dismantled in 1977 and the stills can now be found at the Glengyle distillery in Campbeltown which produces a whisky named Kilkerran.

Due to its very short life only a handful of bottlings of Ben Wyvis have ever been released, and as you can imagine they are highly sought-after by collectors.

During its life there was apparently at least one original bottling release of Ben Wyvis in Canada by the owners but i have never heard of any of these bottlings coming to auction so they were all most probably drunk and there was also a bottling from Robert Dunbar & Co. London & Glasgow.

In 1999 Invergorgon bottled:

Ben Wyvis Cask No. 1061 which produced 146 bottles at 43.1%
Ben Wyvis Cask No. 745 which produced 187 bottles at 45.9% this was bottled for the Japanese market.

In 1999 Invergorgon also discovered a further 3 casks of Ben Wyvis, Cask No. 744, 1058 & 1059, unfortunately the casks were not bottled seperately but blended together producing 471 bottles of 27 year old Ben Wyvis and they reduced the strength to 43%. The labels on the bottles of the Ben Wyvis 1973 27 year old stated that they were the last ones from the Ben Wyvis distillery.

In the spring of 2000 Signatory announced that they had acquired 5 casks from the legacy of an American investor but two of these turned out to be empty. The other 3 casks distilled in 1968 were bottled at cask strength, these were :

Signatory Ben Wyvis Cask No. 685 which produced 191 bottles at 51%,
Signatory Ben Wyvis Cask No. 686 which produced 84 bottles at 50.1%,
Signatory Ben Wyvis Cask No. 687 which produced 151 bottles at 50.6%

The bottles all came in a wooden box accompanied by a certificate and a miniature.

Then in 2002 Whyte & Mackay, owners of Invergordon discovered one more cask in their warehouse but the cask did not belong to them but it turned out that the owner of the cask had defaulted on their storage fees so it was repossessed and bottled by Whyte & Mackay, a Ben Wyvis 1965 37 year old, this really is the final bottling of Ben Wyvis, well at least it is until they discover another cask lurking at the back of a warehouse.

I also know of a bottle of Ben Wyvis 1972 which was bottled in 1989 at 54.4% by the distillery specially for malt producers Munton & Fison, this bottle was produced using only Munton & Fison malted barley.
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There's no bad whisky. Just good whisky and better whisky.

[Samson]

A bit off the topic but i just wondered why the Glengyle distillery in Campbeltown produces a whisky named Kilkerran and not Glengyle.

[bifter]

[bifter]

[chrisg]

eelbrook i assume the Ben Wyvis miniature you have is from one of the 3 Signatory bottlings, if you plan on tasting it do let us know what you think as reviews of Ben Wyvis are rarer than the whisky itself, definitely one of those whiskies that very few will ever try.

[eelbrook]

Awesome guys. Many thanks. In summary, I make it:-

1989 - say 200 Official bottles (for Munton & Fison).
1999 - 804 Official bottles;
2000 - 426 Signatory bottles;
2002 - 200 Official bottles (the final cask).

A total of just 1,630 full-sized bottles in total, some of which will have been opened.

Methinks that I'll have to acquire one lol.

[eelbrook]

Decided that I might as well 'go the whole hog' and try for a "Ben Wyvis 1965 37 year old" (the final, final cask). Got a bottle yesterday. I could never have paid cash for it, but the seller kindly agreed to a barter/swap deal. Wow, wow, wow.