Ben Nevis 1997 Douglas Laing 20 Year Old / Consortium of Cards: King of the Hills

Part of their Exceptional Single Casks range, Old Particular is Douglas Laing's flagship label, and was launched in 2013 after their Old Malt Cask series became part of the portfolio of the newly established Hunter Laing.

The Consortium of Cards was a sub-series consisting of four special releases, and The King of the Hills marks the second of the series.

A Ben Nevis, it was distilled in February 1997 and bottled May 2017. One of 626 bottles.

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.