Nickel on alumina-washcoated cordierite or alpha-alumina monolithic catalysts for selective hydrogenation of benzaldehyde were prepared and characterised. Deposition precipitation method leads to a homogeneous distribution of nickel, whereas conventional adsorption method does not. Nickel in the catalysts was not completely reduced and the Ni loading per gram of washcoated alumina is very high. The catalysts can be reduced at a high temperature and passivated ex situ, followed by an in situ reduction before reaction commences. Despite the low Ni dispersions in the Ni monolithic catalysts, they showed high selectivity and activity towards the favourable product, benzyl alcohol, as compared to conventional catalysts.