Tasting 4 Glenlivets, some younger and some older distillate

Glenlivet is a distillery of great past, but perhaps more of a standard presence. They've created a bit of a fuzz with their Nadurra bottlings, but they're far from the frontrunner of scotch single malts that they once used to be. Mostly young whiskies in this session, I'll have another one with older Glenlivets in not too long.

Glenlivet 12yo 40% OB French Oak Finish

Finished in French Limousin Oak it says. I believe this is the predecessor to the recent 15yo French Oak Reserve. The color is amber brown. It smells of wheat, smoky, leather, oak impact, kinda foul, winey, nothing attracts me in this one. Sulphury, yeast, paint, vegetal. The taste is sweet, honey, vanilla, stewed onions, bittersweet, licorice, honeycorn cereal. Not bad actually, a light and sweet whisky, perhaps not as much wine influence as they initially hoped for, but it would please most whisky-lovers.

Light and easy whisky, superbly smooth and dangerously drinkable: 6.5


Glenlivet 18yo 1972-1990 53.7% Cadenhead's

Six more years, at CS, but no fancy finishing. And did I mention it was distilled probably just over 40 years ago? The color is grey-ish golden. It smells of tobacco, sour leaves, rhubarb, honey, cinnamon, egg yolk, bitter herbs, straw, peppery, superb! The taste is honey, cinnamon, spicy, bitter, leather, biscuits, dry white wine, strawberries, lemon juice, this is really a great Glenlivet, one of the best Glenlivets I've had. I wonder if this comes from a fino cask? Remember, although not stating any cask reference, which really has little value to the average whisky drinker, they always bottle single casks.

Great Glenlivet: 8.5


Glenlivet 12yo 1996-2008 57.8% James MacArthur's Old Master's

Another fairly recent bottling of a Glenlivet youngster. This time at CS. A fun fact is that some of these James MacArthur's miniatures have screw tops designed to be screwed to the left, which would fit for a left-handed connoisseur more than a right-handed one. Why? I have no idea!!! The color on this one is golden. It smells of bitter notes, honey, eucalyptus, mint, vanilla, oregano, basil, heather, almonds. The taste is floral, honey, sweet, aniseed, vanilla, spearmint, peppery and a bit spirity, but this is first and foremost a sweet after-dinner drink.

Actually its a pretty perfect light-weighter: 7.5


Glenlivet 16yo 1978-1994 58.6% Gordon & Macphail cask#4814,4815,4816

Another old youngster, this time from the ranks of Gordon & Macphail, and thankfully bottled at CS. I must say I've been very pleasantly surprised by Glenlivet in this session, let's hope it continues. The color is amber orange. It smells of strong peppery and honey notes. Butter, creamy, bitter, almonds, nutty, perfumy, herbs, licorice, raw onions, butter, salty. The taste is dark chocolate, honey, bitter, spirity, vodka, leather, butter, wine, peaty. This is a bit hard to follow, very raw, needs a bit of water to open up I think. Now it turns more bitter, heavy coffee notes and licorice, bitter liqueurs, fernet branca.

Definitively the outcast of the bunch, for experienced whisky drinkers: 5.5



Next tasting: Highland Park Distillery