The Auld Alliance still going strong
5. The Glenlivet (French Oak Reserve, 15yo, 40%)
This spirited adventure is nearing the end of Phase I, Phase I being a tasting of all the whiskies I actually had in my cupboard when I started this project. I only have a couple left before I have to start actually buying new ones, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it over the next week or so. For the time being we'll get stuck into this offering from The Glenlivet, another Speyside malt.
And for once, the use of the seemingly unnecessary 'The' in the title The Glenlivet is not simply a marketing affectation designed to add weight to the brand. Back in the day, before official appellations were commonplace, George Smith's original single malt from Glenlivet was so popular that many unscrupulous whisky makers adopted the name. This apparently led to the Glenlivet Glen becoming sarcastically referred to as 'The Longest Glen in Scotland'.
In 1884 though, old George managed to get a legal agreement that allowed him and him alone to refer to his original whisky as The Glenlivet.
The distillery was founded many years before in 1824 and is now owned by French giant Pernod Ricard.
Tasting notes, after a fashion:
Which is all very interesting, but what's this aged beauty like, and would George be proud of it if he were still with us today? It's a 15yo dram, matured in French Limousin oak, the stuff normally used to age Cognac.
It's a sort of oily gold in the glass, maybe a little lifeless and dull if I'm being critical. (And to clarify, when I'm being critical, it's purely from a comparative, academic point of view. I've yet to try a single malt that I've found anything less than eminently neckable.)
On the nose it's creamy and rich, just as it says on the box, with lots of resiny oak as you'd imagine. Some tartish citrus notes too with sweet fudge and port, but the oak just keeps coming back in waves. On the palate it's much sweeter than the nose suggests, quite oily and viscous but very smooth. Lots of fruit but at the lighter, sultana-driven, less Christmas cake end of the scale. Only getting a little of the cinnamon and winter spice that most people pick up, but maybe that's just me.
The finish is intense but relatively short lived with a pepperiness and some toasted nuts.
Add a splash of water and the nose rounds out with some more citrus, grapefruity notes but it's in the mouth that you notice the real change: the oak is still there but the Cognac / Calvados burnt apple notes come right to the fore. The finish also becomes spicier and more persistent, oddly.
A very beguiling dram, maybe suited more to an autumn evening by the fire than the current balmy summer evening, but an interesting and rewarding punt at taking a classic Speyside in another direction.
3/5
This spirited adventure is nearing the end of Phase I, Phase I being a tasting of all the whiskies I actually had in my cupboard when I started this project. I only have a couple left before I have to start actually buying new ones, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it over the next week or so. For the time being we'll get stuck into this offering from The Glenlivet, another Speyside malt.And for once, the use of the seemingly unnecessary 'The' in the title The Glenlivet is not simply a marketing affectation designed to add weight to the brand. Back in the day, before official appellations were commonplace, George Smith's original single malt from Glenlivet was so popular that many unscrupulous whisky makers adopted the name. This apparently led to the Glenlivet Glen becoming sarcastically referred to as 'The Longest Glen in Scotland'.
In 1884 though, old George managed to get a legal agreement that allowed him and him alone to refer to his original whisky as The Glenlivet.
The distillery was founded many years before in 1824 and is now owned by French giant Pernod Ricard.
Tasting notes, after a fashion:
Which is all very interesting, but what's this aged beauty like, and would George be proud of it if he were still with us today? It's a 15yo dram, matured in French Limousin oak, the stuff normally used to age Cognac.It's a sort of oily gold in the glass, maybe a little lifeless and dull if I'm being critical. (And to clarify, when I'm being critical, it's purely from a comparative, academic point of view. I've yet to try a single malt that I've found anything less than eminently neckable.)
On the nose it's creamy and rich, just as it says on the box, with lots of resiny oak as you'd imagine. Some tartish citrus notes too with sweet fudge and port, but the oak just keeps coming back in waves. On the palate it's much sweeter than the nose suggests, quite oily and viscous but very smooth. Lots of fruit but at the lighter, sultana-driven, less Christmas cake end of the scale. Only getting a little of the cinnamon and winter spice that most people pick up, but maybe that's just me.
The finish is intense but relatively short lived with a pepperiness and some toasted nuts.
Add a splash of water and the nose rounds out with some more citrus, grapefruity notes but it's in the mouth that you notice the real change: the oak is still there but the Cognac / Calvados burnt apple notes come right to the fore. The finish also becomes spicier and more persistent, oddly.
A very beguiling dram, maybe suited more to an autumn evening by the fire than the current balmy summer evening, but an interesting and rewarding punt at taking a classic Speyside in another direction.
3/5
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