January 19, 2015

Newish Glenlivet aplenty

Simply more Glenlivets, all very recent. Especially two fairly new official NAS. Not too sure age still matters… ;-).

Glenlivet ‘Master Distiller’s Reserve’ (40%, OB, +/-2014)

Some kind of NAS whisky for travel retail (where anything seems to be getting more expensive than anywhere else). Colour: full gold. Nose: rather modern, that is to say with the usual overripe apples and even bubblegum and liquorice allsorts, plus a layer of maple syrup, vanilla and raisins. Then we rather have whiffs of humus and fern, which can’t be bad news. Mouth: bags and bags of caramel, fudge, vanilla, Ovaltine… The mouth feel is light, even thin, but the whole is pleasantly smooth. Ha, smoothness. I have to say some sides of it make me think of Chivas 18. Finish: a little short, malty. Vanilla fudge and a touch of tobacco in the aftertaste. Comments: this harmless baby should please the travelling crowds. I think it’s very well composed, but the low strength is frustrating. SGP:441 - 79 points.

Glenlivet 'Nàdurra Oloroso' (60.7%, OB, batch #OLO614, 2014)

The oloroso-ed version of Nàdurra 16 years old. You may have noticed that while it’s gained sherry, it’s lost an age statement. How surprising. It’s a cask strength version. Colour: deep gold. Nose: starts with a lot of varnish and marshmallows, then a lot of coffee and chocolate, rather ala GF 105 or A’bunadh. I do really enjoy the notes of soy sauce, game, ham and tobacco that start to come out after a while. With water: some flints, hay, farmy notes, old leather, walnuts… The sherry’s doing its job. Mouth (neat): rich, fruity, with a sweet and liqueury side instead of those gamy/meaty notes that we had found in the nose. Oak aged Cointreau? With water: some green oak coming out, green peppercorns, more leather, ginger… Finish: quite long, oily, with more fruits than grass. Perhaps blackcurrants. Comments: I think I enjoy the traditional Nàdurra’s vibrancy better, but there’s no doubt this works. Funny palate with a glissando from jammy fruits to green oak. SGP:461 - 83 points.

Glenlivet 15 yo 1998/2014 (54.8%, Signatory Vintage for Whiskybrother, South Africa, oloroso sherry butt, cask # 128811, 419 bottles)

I’ve already tried South African whiskies, or whiskies finished/matured in South African wine casks, but I think it’s the first time I’m trying whisky that was done for a South African bottler. Colour: amber. Nose: we know that Signatory’s got some very fine middle-aged sherried Glenlivet, and this is another fine example. Starts with tobacco and tobacco smoke, tamarind jam, cassis, espresso and prunes, and gets then a notch meatier, although the whole remains clean and rather fresh for full sherry. After five minutes, we’re rather finding bags of chocolate mints. With water: traces of rubber, bicycle inner tubes and such, then hay and farmyard. Normal. Mouth (neat): excellent, clean, fruity, jammy, and yet fresh, easy, sexy… Yes, sexy. Fruitcake, raspberry jam, wheelbarrows of dried figs, cups of cappuccino and then some kind of spicy pipe tobacco. All good. With water: bitter oranges coming out, as well as a little ginger. Finish: long, on marmalade, candied ginger and sweet pepper. Comments: only flaw, we knew this was going to be excellent – while we love surprises. SGP:551 - 87 points.

While we’re at it…

Glenlivet 32 yo 1981/2014 (52%, Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange, refill sherry, cask #9460, 140 bottles)

I guess it’s a sherry hogshead, according to the outturn. Colour: amber. Nose: a better polished, subtler, more elegant version of a sherry monster. Love this ‘old’ tobacco, the leather polish, the bitter chocolate, the walnut liqueur, or nicer yet, the herbal teas, or the old dry sherries, manzanilla and such. Or palo cortado? Not exactly oloroso, I mean. With water: hints of manure, cut cactus, old horse saddle… Mouth (neat): perfect. Some leathery and spicy fruits, all that in a great way. Crunching a cake of pu-erh tea (don’t try that at home), green oranges, mint lozenges, plenty of walnuts, both fresh and old, bay leaves, even some juniper… What’s sure is that it’s no sultry or luscious sweet sherry at all. With water: indeed, excellent. Some mint, fennel, lime blossom, a drop of lemon juice (very unusual in sherry monsters)… Finish: long, on herbs and fresh walnuts. Comments: dry sherry at its best – even if the distillate didn’t have much to say in this context. Maybe a little challenging at times, but yeah… SGP:361 - 89 points.

Glenlivet 35 yo 1979/2014 (51.3%, Silver Seal)

‘Whisky is Art’, says the label. Indeed, whisky can be art. Sometimes. Let’s see. Colour: full gold. Nose: it is more ‘Glenlivety’ than the 1981, thanks to some much milder sherry – provided it’s sherry cask, but in that case it’s Xth-fill. That means that we find overripe apples again, almond oil, some light honey, blond tobacco, fresh walnuts yet again, maybe drops of sunflower oil, just bits and pieces of old leather (grandma’s patch box)… In truth, the jury’s still out, this could be either fantastically subtle, or rather flat. With water: it’s not flat. This is a walk in the forest after a summer rain, or in an old herbalist’s shop. Mouth (neat): if you love porcinis and other mushrooms as much as I do, this is for you. Lemon liqueur with porcini powder. How funny, how good. With water: delicate spices, crystallised citrus, mints, a drop of cough syrup, some bitter herbs. Finish: medium, on various herbal spices from the oak. Only the aftertaste is a bit too drying and green, which makes it lose one or two points. Comments: it was a lovely refill cask. Only time can do this. No ‘technology’ could do this. Now, do we really need this pre-Photoshop style of whisky? Yes we do! SGP:361 - 90 points.

I had some very old digestif at hand but since we’ve found a 90, we could as well stop here.

Check the index of all Glenlivet I've tasted so far