Chances are you’ll never encounter Mount Everest Whisky*, lest you decide to hike to Base Camp 1 by yourself. I certainly didn’t, but somehow this bottle made it back despite my laziness, and it’s sat unopened in a Marin cottage for years undisturbed.
Naturally when I encountered it over Easter weekend I had to crack it open, just to see what on earth Mount Everest Whisky was all about.
At it’s heart, it’s blended Scotch. The bottle claims it is a concoction of “Scottish whisky and Nepalese alcohol of the highest quality,” neither of which probably mean a lot. The Scottish component here is clearly very young, and the Nepalese alcohol, of who knows what origin, lends a hard medicinal character to the spirit and no body to speak of at all. At 85.6 proof, it’s got enough legs to get you up to Base Camp 1… but it certainly won’t get you to the summit.
It’s not altogether awful. There’s some maltiness and charm in here, to be sure, but on the whole it’s a novelty whisky that’s probably not really meant to be consumed but rather to be admired and sealed forever.
* No, I’m not talking the Glenmorangie Mount Everest Special Edition, an unrelated spirit.
C / $??? / no web site
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I once had this in a pub in Appledore, Devon. My Father and I still joke about how it ‘blew our tops off’ that evening. Got me interested in Scotch for the first time, and I’ve never looked back.
I trekked Base camp in 2000 and 2005 and bought several bottles back. It is now Easter 2013 and I have just cracked bottle – it is quite nice!! If anyone has a bottle in their cabinet – Open it!!