SMITH'S GLENLIVET 1974/2011 - GORDON & MACPHAIL

In continuation of Gordon & Macphail's 'The wood makes the whisky'-campaign, we once again find ourselves heading back to yesteryear, this time to 1974.

Also I always take extra care when tasting old whiskies like this as:

1. Old whiskies like this can be quite fragile and can easily fall apart, especially if (too much) water is added...
2. Time and oxidation in the glass and/or the bottle if not sealed properly
3. I cherish every chance I get to try old whiskies like this...
   With the way prices are going, it looks like that old whisky like this will be only for a select few in the future (read: people with money to spend on old whiskies) 
   

That, of course, warrants a whole other discussion, one covered elsewhere, both on here and in multiple online Fora and Facebook groups, so not getting into that any further during this post 

I often get a bit nostalgic when trying old whiskies like this,as they were made before computers took over most of the production and when making whisky were still very much 'hands on' ... add to that a great visit to Glenlivet Distillery during Spirit of Speyside 2013, a good tasting and ending the whole tour with quite a bit of 1977 sherry cask matured Glenlivet straight from the cask... Now what's not to love about that :-)

Let's get down to business before the nostalgia takes over and see what the wood have made of this whisky...

Old casks mixed with new ones at Glenlivet, May 4th 2013 © The Malt Desk

Smith's Glenlivet 1974/2011 43%, refill American oak & refill sherry casks

Colour is amber

Nose:

Picture by G&M

Oh, you got to love this nose - lots of things going on...
Polished cedar wood, fresh mint, floral notes and overripe fruit. With time, what I can only describe as dried herbs peeks through. There's also a darker note in there - maybe dark roast coffee beans or dark chocolate...

I could nose this all evening :-)

Taste:

Start off slightly spicy with peppery oak, then a rush of fruit - oranges/apricot style, but getting a bit thin mid-palate which surprises me a the delivery promised so much more... It does come back on the finish with some hints of vanilla, a little anise and some 'Grand Marnier' liquor.

This nose on this one is stunning, but the palate doesn't quite follow through, I'm afraid... still, its very, very good but I did expect just a little bit more from this one...

88/100!

Official sample provided by Gordon & Macphail

GLENLIVET NÀDURRA BATCH 1110L - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Time flies, again 1 week has gone by without a post here on The Malt Desk :-O

It has not been an unfruitful one, though, with regards to whisky, but more on that in a later post which will feature whisky and chocolate pairing as those of you who follow my Facebook page and/or @TheMaltDesk on twitter might have noticed from posts from this past Thursday.

Anyway, it's straight on to the review of a good one from the huge Pernod Ricard/Chivas Bros. distillery Glenlivet. Like Aberlour Distiller has the A'Bunadh mentioned in the previous review, Glenlivet also manages to have an interesting bottling in their standard range called Nàdurra. It's a 16yo bottling doing what the whisky anoraks love, which is providing you with an unchill filtered cask strength bottling at a reasonable price - thumbs up for that! It's also bottled in batches like the A'bunadh, so same setup there by the owner Pernod Ricard/Chivas Bros.

This is also a good bottle to review leading up to the Spirit of Speyside Festival that kicks off next Thursday May 1st and runs through to May 5th with alot of events/tastings and distillery tours. If you're there and see me, do come and say hi! :-)

The impressive bottle spiral at the Glenlivet Distillery Visitor's Centre, May 4th 2013 © The Malt Desk

Glenlivet Nàdurra 16yo 55,1% Batch 1110L, Distillery Bottling

Colour is straw

Nose:
Vanilla, pear, grass, pleasant floral notes, bit of honey, grilled banana, loads of sweetness carried through on mainly fruits and vanilla and a dash of oak spice.

Taste:
The palate brings other pleasantries like marzipan and white chocolate, but vanilla again fruit are the driving forces in this whisky. Sometimes  notes of fresh cut grass, lime and lemon peel shows it self. Give this some water and a more malty edge appears along with more oak spice as well.

This is a very nice dram for a readily available malt! I'll give it another thumbs up!

86/100!

GLENLIVET 1988 2.78 'KISSED UP BY SWEET PROMISES' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

One of the big players and one of the brands that, along with Glenfiddich, kicked off the single malt trend was the Glenlivet...

Today, with their recent expansion in 2010 Pernod Ricard/Chivas is putting the distillery up in the heavy league of producers with over 10 million liters/year.

I visited in May 2013 during the Spirit of Speyside Festival and was pleasently surprised with the quality of their 'Spirit of the Malt tour' ending in the warehouse sipping alot on Glenlivet 1977 from a 1st fill sherry cask. Now, don't take this as a given, if you visit - the cask is probably gone along long time ago, but I'm sure they've replaced it with something just as delicious.

You can read more about the 'Spirit of the Malt'-tour here - I recommend it, even if it only takes through the standard range of Glenlivet up to the XXV.

Actually, when looking at the quality of tours available in Speyside, Pernod Ricard/Chivas probably comes up on top, with their tours at Aberlour and Glenlivet, but do not forget about the Balvenie in Dufftown... a very good one too... they're not a part of the Pernod Ricard/Chivas group, though.



New still house at Glenlivet Distillery, May 4th 2013 © The Malt Desk

Glenlivet 1988 2.78 (xx.06.1988/xx.10.2010) 'Kissed up by sweet promises' 21yo, 58,3%, Refill sherry butt, 512 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is full straw

Nose:

Some mint carried on the back of alcohol, vanilla, cinnamon and apple, also quite some citrus notes of the lemon/grapefruit kind and a slight solventy note. Water brings out more malty/grainy notes along with some musty old cellar notes as well.

Taste:

Cooked fruits, porridge w/ sugar, hint of a flowery note, grass, quite alot of honey, nutmeg and vanilla custard and some aniseed. The sherry shows itself as a slight nutty and white winey edge. The finish is shorter than expected on this one, mainly on oak and malt.

Though the finish is short, it doesn't change the fact that this is very good whisky!

I'd take a bottle! ...and thanks to GNJ for the sample

87/100!

GLENLIVET 1993 2.82 'CANDY STORES AND CAROUSELS' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

Final Glenlivet review this time around will be a bottling only half the age of the previous 2... a 19yo. Now, I've reviewed a good range of bottlings from the SMWS in January and February this year and most have been ranging from good to excellent, so expectations are up a bit with this one as well.

But back to Glenlivet itself... or at least I will be in just over a weeks time for the Spirit of Speyside Spring Festival... and hopefully touring the distillery again this time - it's been a while since I've been around the distillery, even though I've been at the visitors centre a couple of times since my last tour. New this year is a chance to 'bottle your own' at Glenlivet - an 18yo if I remember correctly - but it sure sounds interesting - I just wonder what the price will be - and will it be cask strength? Guess I'll have to wait a little to find that out :-)

Now onto the review...

Glenlivet 1993 2.82 (18.05.1993) 19yo 'Candy stores and Carousels' 54,9%, Refill hogshead, 165 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is full gold

Similar bottle shown

Nose:
Flowery, fresh baking, marzipan, apples and pear, blackberries (not the phone!!) and toffee

Taste:
Brown sugar, tropical fruit - pineapple and coconut as in the 2 previous reviews as well, nutty, toffee, hint of dessert chocolates (After Eights?). Finishes on honey notes and spicy oak and that baked note again.

A delicious expression as well - this one!

87/100!

GLENLIVET 1970 40YO - DUNCAN TAYLOR

I'd better follow the old Berry Bros 'Livet with another one about the same age, but this time from bottler Duncan Taylor.

Duncan Taylor used to be one of my favourite bottlers, but I'm sad to say these days, that I find their releases and quality dropping over that past couple of years... My guess is their stock is dwindling too... Think I've mentioned this before in another post as well.

This bottling though, is from just before I feel the quality dropped... and a bottle that was acquired with the help of a very special person (Thank you, U)

Glenlivet 1970 40yo (26.02.1970/03.05.2010) 49,9%, cask#2015, 210 bottles, Duncan Taylor Peerless (tall bottle)

Colour is full gold

Nose:
Initially medium heavy oak pops out, then mango, pineapple, clove and licorice, honeyed and flowery too. A a dram that takes its time to open up, but it sure benefits from it ...

Taste:
Once it has had time to open up it deliverers buckets of tropical fruits, citrus too - mainly oranges, ginger and a peppery nip. Finishes on sugar sprinkled fruits and 'green' herbal note and oaky edge.

Another lovely old Glenlivet once it has had some time to open up.

89/100!

GLENLIVET 1973 38YO - BERRY BROS & RUDD

Like I mentioned in the last post, the Glenlivet 12 used as a benchmark whisky comes up against these next expressions... starting with this one - a 38yo expression from London based bottlers and wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd.

Glenlivet is one of those malts that seems to have been around forever which also shows when bottlers like Gordon & MacPhail in Elgin suddenly pops out a 70yo expression a couple of years back... and also a series of other bottling in their private collection series. One can only wonder how much other great stuff they have tucked away...

Some old casks of Glenlivet tucked away at an undisclosed location © The Malt Desk May 2012

This was an expression bottled by Berry Bros for The Whisky Show 2012 - a weekend event hosted by the large (online) retailer The Whisky Exchange.

Reports says the bottling was received very well at the show and since there was only 120 bottles available of it, it had to disappear very quickly - and it did!

Lets see if there was a reason for that...

Glenlivet 1973 38yo 48,6%, cask#10644, Berry Bros for The Whisky Show 2012, 120 bottles

Colour is full gold

Nose:
Crisp barley, hint of varnish, honey, tropical fruits - especially coconut and pineapple, orange marmalade and some nipping salt even

Taste:
Very nice arrival on flowery malt, melon, candied apples, confectionery's sugar, almonds, very lively and not tired at all. A little oak pops up somewhere mid palate but gets flushed in orange sweets drops and juicy malt. Finish is long on, spices, ginger, toffee, fruits and sweet malt.

What a lovely old 'Livet this is...

90/100!

GLENLIVET 12YO - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Gonna do a quartet of Glenlivet reviews here, 1 distillery bottling as a...well - benchmark, but it can hardly compare with the next 3 as they're all from indie bottlers and at higher strength and NCF and E150 free... Am I being biased? yes, I am... but that's what you get here sometimes :-)

Anyway, my benchmark malt is one of the biggest sellers on the US market and to many - along with Glenfiddich - what malt whisky is really about... I'm of course talking about the 12yo Glenlivet!

Let's dive right in...

Glenlivet 12yo 40%, Distillery bottling (2012/06/12/1321 LF30746)

Colour is gold (E150 added)

Nose:
Apple, toffee, a little spice, honey and mild flowers

Taste:
Bit of a weak arrival, honey again, vanilla, some fruit and bitter burnt caramel
Water brings out a more spicy edge.

I must admit, I found this too bitter and very weak and not at all up to what I remember Glenlivet 12yo as... used to be better than this!

77/100!

GLENLIVET 1975 2.64 'YOUNG AT HEART' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

Just realised this is my first Glenlivet for this blog... but far from my first Glenlivet ever.
Actually Glenlivet was one of my first malts too, besides my starter malt, Glenmorangie 10.

Glenlivet prides itself at being the malt that pretty much started it all, with George Smith taking out a legitimate distilling license back in 1824... Much water has passed under the famous packhorse bridge downhill from the distillery since then and today, the Glenlivet is owned by drinks giant Pernod Ricard.

The bottling reviewed below was bottled 7 years ago by The Scotch Malt Whisky Society and is a shining example of how good Glenlivet can be even though the brand is mostly connected with standard bottlings. The Glenlivet is one of the best selling single malts in the US today.

Glenlivet 2.64 29yo 'Young at Heart' (xx.12.1975/xx.10.2005) 56%, refill sherry hogshead, 186 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is light amber

Nose:
Clean sherry, apples and pears, cinnamon, burnt sugar, mint and brandy filled chocolates, spices and a little earthiness.

Taste:
Light, ultra clean malt, delicate sherry, some anise and apple pie, gentle oak creates an incredible balance in this one that goes on forever, ending on creamy malt, chocolates and oranges.

Hugely complex and loads of other stuff in there and a dram you can spend hours on, I think... Sadly 1 dram is all I got in this short session, but I was certainly left with a wow-feeling!

92/100!