Kategoriarkiv: Glenlivet

Glenlivet, Speyside

Glenlivet 12 YO – Licensed Dram

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ABV: 48 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a mix of cinnamon, vanilla and nail polish remover all sitting in the center with an oakiness surrounding it from the get-go. Underneath lies a ripe fruitiness (mainly red apples) which comes through together with some honey and marzipan. It has a very dessert-like quality and the baking spices are very pronounced. With time in the glass it settles and reveals milk chocolate, toffee and red berries in the back. It becomes sweeter as well. This is a great nose. It’s not the most interesting experience, but delivers a nice solid character.

Mouth: It starts out with a spicyness around the edges. There’s not a lot of flavour coming through at first and it feels slightly spirity. When something finally appears, it’s a mix of oak, malt and vanilla. There’s also an anise note floating around. There’s a mild fruitiness but the whole feels a bit empty and lacks a lot of what the nose offers. It almost feels a bit hot and rushed. With time in the glass it does deliver a bit more of the flavours and mirrors the nose fairly well.

Finish: The spicyness spikes through the transition and when it settles it goes back to being quite empty on the palate. There’s a savory note in the back as well as a bitterness. There are toffee and fruit notes and lemon peel in the back. When the oak starts to take over there’s a perfumey layer attached to it. It’s a bit weird and hard to make sense of. The oakiness has a quite bitter character and without any nuttiness it really doesn’t deliver the best of notes. This is a decent whisky. It has a great nose and lacks a bit in taste. Time in the glass is of the essence.

Additional information
This is the second release from ”The Original Stories” series. It’s matured in a mix of first fill ex-bourbon barrels and first fill european ex-sherry casks. It’s unchillfiltered.

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Glenlivet, Speyside

The Glenlivet 15 YO – The French Oak Reserve

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Sample in queue. Tasting notes pending.

See the queue here.

(Scribbles)

Nose: Soft sweet fruits, vanilla, dust, pleasant and rounded, feint smell of Apple juice.

Taste: Smooth, a bit dusty, some spices on the tip of the toungue, sweetness, dry oak.

Finish: Spices intensify, nice lasting dry oak flavour, hint of vanilla intertwined with the oak. A hint of apple comes and goes.

Additional information
The Glenlivet 15 YO is matured for 12 years in ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry casks and then finished for 3 years in new limousin french oak barrels.

Glenlivet, Speyside

Glenlivet 12 YO – Illicit Still

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ABV: 48 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and floral. At first there’s a thick layer of red apples, vanilla and marzipan. On top there’s a cloud of menthol and flowers. There’s a honey sweetness starting out in the back but then moves forward on the edges as time goes by in the glass. There’s a sweet liquorice note coming through as well. Overall it feels very rich and mild without any sharp or pointy edges. This is a fairly straight forward nose but it’s very pleasant and welcoming.

Mouth: It starts out with a lemon note in the back and a sweet maltiness up front. The fruity and floral elements are still in there but they are reduced and have left the spotlight. It’s a sweet and sour mix with a bitter tang in the back. It’s quite mild even though it presents a slight ABV spicyness after a few seconds. It’s just as sweet as on the nose and there’s nothing especially interesting happening at this point except for the sweetness moving forward a bit.

Finish: The honey sweetness flare up out on the edges before the center core starts to come through. Here the apples and the floral notes return as well as the maltiness. It’s still mild with a soft layer of menthol hovering above everything else. It stays consistant for quite a while before everything dies down and leave room for the oakiness. It’s a nice enough oak but it’s quite generic. In the tail end of the finish the marzipan note makes a quick revisit. This is a great whisky with a lot of nice flavours. It’s not a whisky to explore, it’s a whisky to enjoy.

Additional information
This is the first release from ”The Original Stories” series. It’s matured for in a mix of ex-bourbon barrels and european ex-sherry casks. It’s unchillfiltered.

Glenlivet, Speyside

Glenlivet 18 YO – Single Cask Edition (13091)

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ABV: 56.9 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a dessert-like mix of vanilla and baked apples with a hint of cinnamon on top. It’s very fresh and lively despite its age and the distillate is clearly shining through. With time in the glass it grows to be sweet and sour with the sweetness on top with vanilla and honey and sour lemon in the back. A hint of marzipan can be found in the center part. It’s a very easy and accessable nose. It’s quite pleasant but not especially complex.

Mouth: It starts out with a honey sweetness in front and a sour green apple note in the back. There’s a nice power to it and it’s quite peppery which helps it along. The flavours need the boost. It feels a lot more mature than on the nose with an old dusty, grey wood note in the background. After a second or two it turns towards the sour note and shifts from Green apples to lemon. It’s still not especially complex or evolving but it’s a nice experience nontheless.

Finish: The peppery spicyness spikes through the transition but it settles down quite quick. It stays as a background spicyness for the duration of the finish though. It then reveals the same flavour combinations as before. It’s still a sweet and sour experience with vanilla, honey and baked red apples in contrast to green, sour apples and lemon. There are notes of butterscotch, coconut and marzipan floating in and out. The oakiness is an old and dusty one and it takes over in a nice and mellow way. It’s a walnuts and chalk oakiness which is very nice and it feels like a logical way to finish. This is a great whisky. It borders on being too spicy for a delicate dram but it just about works.

Additional information
This whisky was bottled 11/2020. It was aged in an american oak hogshead. The cask number is 13091. The bottle tried is no. 87/252.

Glenlivet, Speyside

The Glenlivet Nàdurra – Oloroso Matured

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ABV: 60.2 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark and spicy. Chili and black liquorice sit on top of a quite young and lively distillate. Raisins, dades and tobacco creep up along the inside of the glass. The longer it sits the sweeter it gets with notes of Amaretto, honey and a touch of vanilla. A tiny hint of green apples is in there somewhere. This is very powerful with great cask influence.

Mouth: At first there’s a tobacco note and a hefty ABV spicyness. After a few seconds some dried fruits come through together with a quite nice bitterness. There are still notes of raisins, dades and a now prominent honey sweetness. There’s a toffee note in the background. It feels more mature than on the nose and there’s some dustiness on top.

Finish: A strong menthol cloud goes by and it’s start out with quite low key flavours. After a few seconds the bitterness returns together with muted notes of the Oloroso with liquorice, raisins and honey up front. It takes quite the long time before some oakiness appear. It’s a very laid back oakiness that never picks up speed. It’s a short finish that is somewhat disappointing. It’s still a great dram overall.

Additional information
This cask strength release is aged in first fill ex-Oloroso sherry casks for an undisclosed amount of time. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour. The bottle tried was from batch OL0818.

Glenlivet, Speyside

The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruits and ethanol. At first there’s a mix of apples and pears with a vanilla coating. They are covered by a big cloud of ethanol. It takes a minute of two before it settles in the glass and become a little less spirity. When it does settle it becomes round and malty with hints of honey and sweet liquorice. There is a sour note coming through in the background. The fruits are still the main focal point through the nosing. This is a half-decent nose.

Mouth: It starts out with a sweet honey and vanilla layer sitting on top of the same fruits as on the nose. The background delivers quite a hefty and rather unpleasant bitterness coming through together with a prickly oakiness. It’s quite metallic to the taste and the ethanol cloud is still hovering over everything else.

Finish: A big surge of the unpleasant bitterness pops up before the oakiness pushes through. The fruitiness is much fresher here and it’s more like pears and assorted tropical fruits. It’s a nice fruitiness, but it is overrun by the bitter notes and the oak. The late finish is all about a mix of the oak and the fruits. There is a sharp metallic note and the ethanol makes itself known even in the long run. This is a budget whisky and it tastes exactly like the presets. It’s not too bad, but the corners cut are hard to ignore.

Additional information
This was launced in 2015 as the new entry level of Glenlivet’s core range. It’s aged for the most part in american first fill ex-bourbon casks.

Glenlivet, Speyside

The Glenlivet 21 YO – Archive

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and sweet. At first there’s a fruitiness with apples and pears up front. Beneath there’s a sweeter layer with honey, vanilla and fresh red fruits. There’s also cinnamon and a hint of marzipan. With some time in the glass it becomes floral and perfumey. A top layer of black liquorice start to form and becomes more pronounced over time. This is a very pleasant nose but it’s feels younger than its age.

Mouth: The first impact is honey sweet and malty. The fruitiness is now oranges and overripe red berries and it is not as fruity as on the nose. There are feint notes of dust and old books in the back. A hint of lemon comes through on the sides. There is also black liquorice coming through and a bitterness builds up in the back which merges with the oranges to give hints of peel. It’s very rich and full bodied.

Finish: It starts out mild and sweet once again. Honey and vanilla sits in the middle together with a fruitiness still leaning towards oranges and ripe berries. The maltiness moves forward with time and it sticks around when the oakiness starts to come through. It’s a very nice oakiness with hints of nuts and a thin coffee bitterness. The finish is very long and very rewarding. Overall it feels somewhat younger than its age and it lacks some complexity, but it’s still a great whisky and it offers a lot of flavours.

Additional information
The Glenlivet 21 YO is aged in a mix of ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry casks. There are both american and european oak casks used. Since it’s created in batches made by selected casks the content varies over time. This bottle is drawn from batch 1016P.

Glenlivet, Speyside

The Glenlivet Nàdurra – First Fill American White Oak Casks

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ABV: 60.3 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is young and sweet. At first impact the high ABV hits the nose. When it settles there’s a sweet mix of honey and vanilla together with a slight hint of fruits. With time in the glass it becomes fruitier though, and it’s a green apples and pears kind of fruitiness. There’s also a hint of cinnamon somewhere in the middle. It’s quite young and the distillate is very much the main focus of the presentation, even though good casks are used.

Mouth: It starts out with honey and ripe red apples. It’s got a thick maltiness and there’s a beer note coming through. The vanilla is still in there and there’s a nice oakiness shining through every once and a while. The ABV makes it quite spicy, but it takes a while for it to really bite back. It’s oily and it’s got a savory note sitting in the back. This gives it a great texture and a nice depth.

Finish: The high ABV shoots by but soon leaves place for the sweet and fruity flavours once again. It’s the same flavours as before with vanilla, honey, a beer note and the ripe red apples. The oily texture and the savory note is still in there. The oak arrives late, but it is a fresh and nice oakiness. The pear notes return in the background in the late finish. This is a young powerhouse. It’s well made and has a lot of flavours to offer.

Additional information
This cask strength release is aged in first fill ex-bourbon sherry casks for an undisclosed amount of time. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour. The bottle tried was from batch FF0717.

Glenlivet, Speyside

The Glenlivet Nádurra – Peated Whisky Cask Finish

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ABV: 62.0 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet fruits and mild peat. At first there’s a mild bonfire smoke on the edges of the glass and a cardboardy note in the center. The high ABV creates an intense, yet rounded, cooling effect, but even though it sits up front it doesn’t hide everything else. There are red baked apples, vanilla and a hint of butterscotch. There’s also a lemon sourness coming through from the back. This is a pleasant nose that comes with a youthness and a big punch.

Mouth: It starts out honey sweet and the peat is still creating a surrounding circle out on the edges. The peat is much more present in taste than on the nose and it’s more of a hay and dry soil peatiness at this point. The power of the high ABV is there but it’s not as powerful as the number suggests. There’s a maltiness combined with vanilla and a complex, deep note that’s leaning towards overripe apples.

Finish: A lemon note, a spicy cloud and a maltiness really pushes through from the start and it takes a while for it to settle. When it finally lets other flavours through it reinstates the outer circle of peat and the vanilla and butterscotch in the center. The oak does come through, but it takes a long time for it to show up. It’s a pretty anonomous oakiness and it’s not especially interesting. The peat lingers after everything else have died down. This is a young powerhouse with a lack of clear direction. It’s still a tasty dram in its own right though.

Additional information
This cask strength release is aged in casks which previously held peated whisky for an undisclosed amount of time. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour. The bottle tried was from batch PW1016.

Glenlivet, Speyside

The Glenlivet Triple Cask Matured – Distiller’s Reserve

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: The first approach is fudge and vanilla heavy. The fruitiness, with ripe red apples and green grapes, is feint at first. The distillate shines through and gives it a slight cardboard note in the background. There’s a tiny hint of sherry, but it’s not sharp nor pronounced. The spicyness leans towards eucalyptos. It’s a bit uneventful on the nose.

Mouth: The vanilla spreads out and a nice spicyness follows. The fudge is now more of a toffee note and honey has joined the sweet side. The fruitiness is still way back and finally steps forward when the oak arrives. There’s a bitterness coming from the european oak and it brings a nice touch of hazelnuts. The sherry casks are basically nowhere to be found.

Finish: A mild start with the spicyness a bit muted at first, but then it quickly builds up. The toffee, vanilla and honey flare up and then settles again leaving the oakiness in charge. Finally a hint of the sherry reappears with some dark dried fruits. The hazelnuts are still in there and a pear note tags along down the road. This is not an adventure by any means, but still a decent dram.

Additional information
This was launched in 2019 as part of Glenlivet’s travel retail exclusive range. It’s aged in ex-sherry casks, traditional (refill) casks and american ex-bourbon barrels.

Glenlivet, Speyside

The Glenlivet 12 YO

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: Sweet and fruity notes of both green and red apples together with yellow pears, vanilla, honey and pie crust. The oak is noticable and there’s a feint grassy overtone. This is very easy on the nose.

Mouth: It starts out mild and a bit watery. The honey sweetness together with butterscotch, vanilla and baked apples gives it a dessert-like profile. There’s a slight oakiness and a spicyness on the tip of the toungue.

Finish: The fruitiness is at the center, but the vanilla comes through very strong giving it a warm rounded flavour. The rest of the flavours are still in there but subsides and gives room to the oak, which is dry but not astringent. There’s not very strong flavors in the finish, but they find a way to linger in the mouth. This is not very complex but well made as an accessible whisky.

Additional information
One of the most famous single malts in the world. It’s matured first in traditional (refill) oak casks, and then finished in first fill ex-bourbon barrels.

Glenlivet, Speyside

The Glenlivet 18 YO

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is a big bowl of fruits with vanilla on the side. It’s ripe red juicy apples, yellow pears and clementines. There’s also honey, vanilla and cinnamon. The oak is detectable and gives it a mature side. It’s very fragrant.

Mouth: It starts off dusty with some maltiness. There’s an immediate astringency and the oak is very much present from the start. It’s dry and slightly bitter and sits well with the fruits, which are now turning towards grapes and green apples. It’s got a white wine touch to it. The spicyness is feint and it’s a mild, but not bland, experience.

Finish: The big fruit bowl and the white wine note take lead. The oak is still astringent and dry. There’s dark chocolate covered hazelnuts, vanilla, cardemum and some peaches all peeking through. It’s a long and pleasant oaky finish.

Additional information
This 18 YO expression is matured in a combination of first and second Fill american Oak barrels and ex-Sherry european oak casks.