Glenlivet 16 year old 1997 van Wees The Ultimate, cask 157418

One last Glenlivet sherry cask. This one (likely from Signatory's warehouse) was bottled by the Dutch van Wees folks at 46%abv, a strength I've had some luck with this week. I've also found the van Wees whiskies to be very reliable — as long as they're not 6 years old — so I'm looking forward to this one.

Distillery: Glenlivet
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: van Wees
Series: The Ultimate
Age: 16 years (6 Nov 1997 - 13 Jan 2014)
Maturation: first fill sherry butt
Cask#: 157418
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No

(from a purchased sample)

NOTES

The nose begins with pineapple juice, wet stones and green bananas. Honey, peaches, burlap and cream soda arrive next, soon to be overtaken by walnuts in toffee. A bit zany but fun.

Dark chocolate and almond butter rule the palate at the start, with smaller notes of Chambord and graphite in the background. The almond note grows with time, as dried berries and oversteeped black tea appear around the edges.

Almonds and graphite appear in the finish after the first sips, bitterness and dried berries show up later.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This unusual sherry cask results in a bit of a mess, but......I like it. Must be the dark chocolate + almonds + Chambord in the palate, along with the peaches and walnuts in the nose. With all the parts bouncing off of each other, never merging, this single malt feels like an oddly mixed blended malt. But again, it's entertaining, and I would almost be tempted to buy a bottle, especially at its old price.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - was below €80 eight years ago
Rating - 86

Glenlivet 19 year old 1995 Signatory, cask 166946

Here's another 1995 Glenlivet sherry butt bottled by Signatory. Unlike its doubles partner, yesterday's 15 year old, cask 166946 rumbles in at cask strength. I tried it at the diluted strength of 46%abv first so that my palate would survive the evening, and that turned out to be a good choice...

Distillery: Glenlivet
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Series: Un-Chillfiltered Collection
Age: 19 years (30 Oct 1995 - 16 Jan 2015)
Maturation: Sherry Butt
Cask#: 166946
Alcohol by Volume: 59%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No

(from a purchased sample)

DILUTED to 46%abv, or 1¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Love the nose. Graphite, concrete and candied citrus peels, first. Then hints of dried apricots, almond extract, cherry popsicles and milk chocolate arise from underneath. The palate starts with an austere mineral style, a bit of salt, some spent engine oil, followed by dried cherries and green peppercorns. It finishes with that mineral note, a touch of wormwood, and hints of tar and cassis in the background.

NEAT

Compared to the diluted version, the neat nose feels closed. It's vaguely floral, with apple peels and apricots in the distance. Maybe some concrete and dried thyme too. The palate reads tight as well. Lots of heat. Bits of honey, lemon, golden raisins and minerals here and there. It finishes hot and mildly sweet with salt and lemons.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This is stellar at 46%, though not so much at full power. Like cask 144361, this is another sherry butt that's free from generic black raisin and prune notes. It frames the spirit very well, letting the whisky part of the whisky do most of the talking. Perhaps it had a good spot in the warehouse? Or was a second fill? Or both? If you have this bottle (lucky lucky), you'll want to spend some time tinkering with a pipette or teaspoon to find the best ABV spot. Ah yes, the pleasures of an actual bottle, as opposed to a wee sample.

Availability - Probably sold out in Europe
Pricing - ???
Rating - 89 (diluted)

Glenlivet 15 year old 1995 Signatory, cask 144361

Signatory's Pitlochry warehouses have (or had) quite the stash of 1995 Glenlivets, with the bottler emptying nearly 50 casks between 2009 and 2016, all (or most) of which were sherry butts. I reviewed cask 166947 almost exactly six(!) years ago. Two other casks now follow, today and tomorrow.

I took a sizable share of a bottle of cask 144361, which allowed it to serve as a sparring partner for the next two Glenlivets this week. It was part of Siggy's Un-Chillfiltered Collection, a series I miss quite a bit.

Distillery: Glenlivet
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Series: Un-Chillfiltered Collection
Age: 15 years (19 Sep 1995 - 23 Sept 2010)
Maturation: first fill sherry butt
Cask#: 144361
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Its nose has a candy shop sugariness and a lot of fruit. Yuzu and lemon peels. Apple cider and pineapple juice. Undercurrents of rope, wet stones and Brillo pads provide an anchor. The palate arrives much sweeter than I'd expected, mostly apple candy and mint juleps. After some time another level develops, a mix of green plums with raw pecans and raw walnuts, providing some necessary depth. The finish is, well, it's a mint julep made with calvados. Maybe a touch of honey and a few sultanas.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

One curious sherry cask resulted in a real sweetie here, though the nose and palate do have some angles to 'em. A drinker more than a thinker, it feels like a good summer whisky, and its original price from 12 years ago would probably make us sob. All my Signatory UCF bottles are gone, and I feel the lack.

Availability - Bye Bye
Pricing - ??
Rating - 85

Two batches of Glenlivet XXV

I don't know, people. Can we trust that this a 25 year old whisky? Maybe "XXV" is really a Code, wrapped in an Enigma, excreted by a Guardian and filtered through a Cipher, ultimately revealing it to be Gaelic for "LOL, you sucker."

And, for the sake of this review, I will assume that the "25YO" on the label does not mean "I, 25". Bingo.

I got jokes. Somewhere.

The XXV releases began in 2007 and continued up through 2021. I'm not sure if a 2022 batch exists yet, but raise your hand if you're worried about that..........Cool. The XXV batches all appear to have been finished in 1st fill Oloroso casks for an unstated period of time, which only leads me to ask, "Glenlivet, WTF was wrong with your 25YO whisky?"

It has been a long time since I drank Glenlivet's 18 and 21 year olds, but I used to find them very friendly and fruity. This will be my first time trying the XXV, because apparently four extra years (and that sherry finish) require the price to jump 75% from the 21YO's spot, and that never motivates me. So though this may not be as sexy as last week's Glengoyne 25yo Taste Off, I have been looking forward to this duo.

First...

Glenlivet 25 year old, batch 0419E (2019), 43%abv

Mostly American oak on the nose. Lumber, banana pudding, vanilla and pineapple. That's it, at first. The whisky takes more than 30 minutes to open up, finally revealing mango, yellow nectarine, Heath Bar and a hint of dunnage.

The palate shows a surprising level of heat. Spicy cigars, toffee, tapioca pudding and sweet paprika fill the foreground, with lots of salt in the middle, and hints of Kasugai gummies in the back.

It finishes with moderate bitterness and sweetness, along with plenty of cigar notes. More bitterness, ash and salt appear in later sips.

Then...

Glenlivet 25 year old, batch 0220F (2020), 43%abv

The nose begins with vanilla, orange and urine. Like the other batch, 0220F takes a while to shift gears, eventually blossoming after the 40 minute mark. That's when all the peaches appear, along with white chocolate, toasted oak, kelp and old newspapers.

Spirit and oak battle it out in the palate. Woody bitterness meets a light sweetness. Ash and oranges. Cream soda, guava and black pepper.

In early sips, ash and oranges make up most of the finish. But later on, menthol and chile oil replace the ash, then more vanilla beans and tart citrus fruits arrive.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

That was not what I'd expected. Both noses began oddly, later blooming into the highlight of each whisky.  In fact, 0220F's sniffer turned out to be excellent, it just needed time to get there. Neither whisky's palate came together like a drinker would expect from a sizable batch of mass-produced 25 year old scotch. Batch 0419E's finish was the weakest point, giving 0220F the advantage overall. While both were decent whiskies, I don't see them topping the Glenlivet 18s and 21s I've had, resulting very weak QPRs for this $500+ single malt. Now that I've tried Glenlivet XXV, it's time to move on.

RATINGS

Glenlivet XXV, batch 0419E - 82

Glenlivet XXV, batch 0220F - 85

Glenlivet 18 year old Nàdurra Triumph

I've wanted to try this whisky ever since I first saw it at a whisky bar nine years ago. It sat on shelves around the country for another three or four years at a high, but not unreasonable by today's standards, price. And it wound up in my cart a number of times before I declined to buy it. Though the Nàdurra Triumph always seemed interesting, blind buying has never a pleasurable experience for me.

So I didn't buy it.

And now I regret that.

Regarding the whisky itself: Glenlivet 18 year old 1991 Nàdurra Triumph is a single malt made from one barley strain, or varietal, Triumph, that is no longer used by Scottish distillers, possibly due to inefficient alcohol output. It was a single release, sort of before its time, and Glenlivet hasn't joined the "_____ Barley" release shuttle that has since launched. Instead they sell a lot of NAS mystery meat (named Alpha, Cipher and Code) for 150+ dollars.

Distillery: Glenlivet
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Age: 18 years (1991-2010)
Maturation: American oak casks
Barley varietal: Triumph
Alcohol by Volume: 48%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
(from a purchased sample)

The nose is radiantly fruity. Kristen said she could smell it from across the room. There are lots of in-season apples, pineapple, guava and limes. Yes, barley. Then anise and roasted nuts. Hints of brine and vanilla bean. The palate is creamy in texture and character, with graciously minor levels of vanilla and sugar. Key lime pie, roasted barley, pineapple and a touch of herbal bitterness. The lime note expands with time. It finishes with key lime pie and lemon bars, both with extra zest, as well as a hint of fresh peach.

What a treat this was, especially next to Glenfiddich's Fire & Cane. The 48%abv felt like the optimum strength, and I refused to add water. Refused! To reproduce this whisky would be an undertaking, and possibly not that lucrative, but it would be a hell of a lot better than the majority of the official range. And it would fit nicely with some of the fruity mega-batches of the regular 18yo.

If an opportunity to try this whisky comes along, I recommend you do not pass it up, as I regret having waited so long. (Note: I wrote "try" not "buy". Recommendations for purchases are not made on this site.) Though it's not the most complex thing, the whisky is fruity and creamy without being weighed down by sugar and vanilla, which is in itself a ...... wait for it ...... triumph!

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - ???
Rating - 88

Killing Whisky History, Episode 13 - Glenlivet 12 year old, botttled 1986-1988

How about that? Thirteen episodes in and I finally get to a single malt. Bottled in the '80s, this famous Speyside whisky bears little resemblance to the current version. In a very good way.

Now it's time to cuddle up with your loved ones, or coworkers, and watch me drink.

Glenlivet 1977-2004 Scott's Selection

Almost a year ago, Binny's Beverage Depot dropped the prices on all their remaining Scott's Selection whiskies. So four of us whisky gents split three of those bottles. Not too long after that, Binny's stopped shipping to Ohio. That's a bummer, but it has kept my whisky purchases limited, which is not a bummer.

It took a while before I tapped into my portions, but once I did they didn't last long. Luckily I saved 2oz of each for reviews......which are happening this week, starting with the oldest of the trio. A Glenlivet distilled in 1977.

Distillery: Glenlivet
Distilled by: The Glenlivet Distillers Ltd.
Current Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Bottler: Scott's Selection (R.I.P. 😿)





Age: 27-ish years (1977-2004)
Maturation: "in Oakwood casks" (rad!)
Region: Speyside (Banffshire)
Alcohol by Volume: 53.1%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No

NEAT
Its color is light amber, which bodes well. The nose starts off big on peach and mango. Then lemon zest and cantaloupe. Some shortbread and confectioner's sugar. Its palate is completely different than the nose: sharp, tart and tight. Barley, lemons, limes, almonds and a hint of vanilla fudge. It finishes warm and simple. Vanilla simple syrup and barley. Tart, with a slight bitterness.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
The nose gets creamier. More vanilla. Ginger candy. Most of the fruits are gone. Only lemons and overripe peaches remain. The palate becomes softer, but no more complex. Lemons, barley, mild bitterness and woody/papery note. The finish hasn't changed much. Just a little sweeter.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The nose feels younger. Wort, salt water taffy, orange peel and vanilla. The palate is tangy and tart. Slightly woody and a little peppery. And that's it. The mellow finish has a melon note and acidic citrus.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Normally, I don't add much (if any) water to a whisky north of 25 years. But this one's palate would not open up at full strength. A little bit of water didn't do much, and by the time it hit 40%abv it was nearly dead.

This unfortunate because the nose was gorgeous at cask strength. Water didn't kill it, but it didn't improve it either. Had the palate sung like the nose, this would have been a dynamite thing.

The finish was alsio oddly flat and short throughout. These issues have me guessing that there was some lethargic "Oakwood" involved. Great nose, though.

Availability - Scarce
Pricing - one Midwest shop is selling it for $200
Rating - 83

The Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting

A man awaiting his drink.

My past four international trips have all concluded with a magnificent final act.  In 2010, our Italian honeymoon finished with a dazzling three days in Positano.  Our 2011 Ireland trip wrapped up with a real Irish wedding.  I walked into the bar of my dreams on the ultimate night of my Kyoto voyage last year.  And on our final full day in Scotland, Kristen and I went to Campbeltown.  We toured the Springbank and Glengyle distilleries, did a tasting in one of Cadenhead's warehouses, knocked over Cadenhead Whisky Shop, then walked to the Ardshiel Hotel bar to relieve them of their best Springbank-related single casks.

I didn't travel to Scotland to buy whisky bottles.  But because the whisky selection in that small nation embarrasses that of this large nation, and the Pound was its weakest since the early reign of The Baroness Thatcher, I was going to buy a lot of whisky.  My restraint was admirable -- I declare -- at the beginning of the trip as I departed shop after shop after shop empty handed.  I knew Cadenhead was coming.

Some of you seasoned whisky vets can tut-tut, but I actually didn't know that the whole purpose of the warehouse tasting was to buy bottles.  I just wanted to try casks alongside my beautiful wife.  I thought the whole point of this whisky thing was to appreciate the experience, rather than possessing glass bottles.  But just before I left for my trip I started hearing stories of people walking out of the warehouse with a case or more of single cask bottlings under their arms.  These claims may have just been masculine bluster, which seems to be in generous supply these days, but having seen the whisky buying addiction consume many intelligent healthy individuals firsthand, I knew there was some truth behind the tales.  I don't have that desire to own every last thing.  In the Cadenhead casino, I am not the whale.  I'm a hedonist guppy.

Our warehouse chaperon was Ronan, Mr. Business, rocking the suit.

A sterling guide, Ronan was relatively new to Cadenhead at the time, doing a lot of work as a sales rep to Western Europe.  And though Scotland is his home, he spent a few years in Georgia (USA), not too long ago, playing footie for a local university (Emory, I think?).  Here are the casks we generously tapped:

1.  Glenlivet (bottled at Glendronach!) 19 year old 1996, ex-bourbon cask, 51%abv
A super duper fruity summer malt with a serious bubblegum note. Perfectly drinkable at this strength, no water needed.

2.  Arran 19 year old 1996, ex-bourbon cask, 44.7%abv

Light as a feather (note the ABV), this could be consumed very quickly.  Fresh pears, vanilla, and cherries.  Kristen liked this one.

3.  Caperdonich 20 year old 1996, 17 years in ex-bourbon + 3 years in ex-sherry hogshead, 48.9%abv
Excellent.  My second favorite of the bunch.  Loaded with rich malt, with the sherry cask perfectly integrated, it felt as if it spent its whole life in a 2nd-fill sherry cask.

4.  Auchentoshan 17 year old 1999, 10 years in ex-bourbon + 7 years in ex-Chateau Lafite cask, 53.8%abv
Long time readers know I have issues with this sort of wine cask.  Yet I wanted to give it a go since, perhaps, my palate had changed.  But, nope nope nope.  Kristen liked it even less than I.  It's not the worst use of a Lafite cask (thanks Murray McDavid!), but due to the length of the secondary maturation the wine was very aggressive, stomping down the light spirit.

5.  Springbank 19 year old 1996, ex-sherry cask, 59%abv
WINNER!  Full power Springbank spirit meets full power sherry cask, it rips through senses and nerve endings.  Everyone wins.  Probably the best whisky I had during the entire trip.  Kristen liked it too.  I bought a bottle.  There's a video of me filling the bottle by hand, but I decided not to include it here since it's mostly two minutes of my rear end.  Also, the dunnage is too shadowy to get a real good look.  At the whisky, you dog you.

6.  Bowmore 15 year old 2000, ex-bourbon, 60%abv
Herbal, mineral, and with a lighter peat than most indie Bowmores, it couldn't compete for my attention after that Springbank.

7.  Guatemalan Rum 8 year old, 60+%abv
Salted caramel ice cream and a cigar.  Impressive and not grossly sweet.  But, again, Springbank.

8.  Mark Watt's secret aged gin in a kilderkin, approx. 80%abv
Gorgeous.  Maybe the most aromatic booze I've ever experienced.  Sadly not for sale.

So, yes, I bought a bottle of the Springbank for less than half the US price of the current 19 year old cask strength sherried OB Springbank releases, maybe even 1/3 the price if I get my full VAT refund back.  I do slightly regret not buying one of the Caperdonich, but I regret more the fact that I didn't buy 74 more bottles of the Springbank.  The Glenlivet and Arran are very nice too, though because they're only available through this warehouse tasting it's kind of silly for me to recommend them.  If they're still there when (not if) you go then you'll get the opportunity to judge them as per your own palate.

After the tasting we did indeed go to Cadenhead Whisky Shop where I bought a number of other bottles.  It's impossible to be fiscally responsible after consuming eight cask strength spirits, but don't worry, I left a few bottles on the shelves.

If you make it to Campbeltown, try to give yourself one full whisky day with no driving on either end.  Schedule the Springbank/Glengyle/Cadenhead tour combo a few months in advance.  Hydrate well on the day of, eat a full Scottish breakfast beforehand, and hide your good credit card.  You will have a quality experience.

Single Malt Report: Glenlivet 33 year old 1981 Signatory for K&L Wine Merchants, cask 9459

Let's finish off this three-fer with one last big hit.  Much older than the previous two whiskies, 33 vs 19 vs 19, this Glenlivet comes from a refill sherry cask rather than a first fill.  And it's from a hogshead, rather than a butt.  A hogshead holds approximately half the volume of a butt, so there's more oak-to-spirit contact but since this is a refill it'll be interesting to see if that balances out the cask influence.

Ah ha! An actual bottle pic.

Like Wednesday's whisky, this Signatory was sold exclusively through K&L Wine Merchants.  The hoggie's bottle count is down to 115, so either this cask was split with another retailer or the angel's did some fair work over 33 years.

Like Wednesday's whisky there aren't many reviews online (aside from LAWS this time). Again, there's no listing for it in Whiskybase.  On a curious note, casks 9454 (34yo) and 9463 (33yo) are from the same distillation year (one with the same distillation date) have the same exact ABV.  What's the chance of that happening?  Is it a conspiracy or totally meaningless?  I'll go with the latter.....for now.  ;-)

As with the 29yo Longmorn I reviewed in June, this sample came into my possession via my installation as the substitute LA Scotch Club host for the K&L Strikes Back event at Lost Property in Hollywood on April 10th.  It was the most desired whisky that evening.  I'm first trying it now.

And, of course, a sample pic.

Distillery: Glenlivet
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 33 years (November 5, 1981 - July 8, 2015)
Maturation: refill sherry hogshead
Cask#: 9459
Bottle count: 41 of 115
Alcohol by Volume: 51.1%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants

Its color is a dark orange gold, the lightest tone of the three whiskies.  The nose starts off with molasses chews, York Peppermint Patties, orange peel, and toffee pudding.  A slight seaweed note wafts in sometimes.  There are baked pears (a la old Calvados Domfrontais), sugar cookies, and perky fresh ginger.  After 30+ minutes in the glass, it picks up cherry liqueur and a subtle mizunara-like sandalwood note.  The palate is very pleasant at this strength, so I won't be adding water.  There are cherry candies and mango candies balanced by bitter baking chocolate.  Fresh raspberries, coffee beans, and a mild oak note.  After 30 minutes, the palate gains a lovely orange note and some of the nose's cookies.  It finishes with lollipops, strawberry jello, maraschino cherries, and bitter chocolate.  A moment of the good orange note too.  It more spicy than sweet, really, overall.  After a lot of time in the glass, the bitterness grows and some American oak shows up.

Winner Winner Whisky Dinner!  As good as the nose's notes may sound, I think the palate's even better.  It's merely very good until the oranges and cookies jump in, and then...yeah.  It never reads as a sherry bomb, so the refill choice served the whisky very well.  There's a grace in its age that one can't fake by trying to squeeze in more oak over a shorter period of time.  I'm guessing that American oak was used for the hogshead, which is not a problem.  I do think the wood eventually gets a bit invasive in the finish after awhile, keeping this thing from soaring even higher.  But it's a still an excellent cask and a great selection by K&L.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - $400
Rating - 91

Single Malt Report: Glenlivet 19 year old 1995 Signatory for Binny's, cask 166947

The Glenlivet three-fer started out oddly yesterday.  In order to get some perspective, I tried that whisky alongside this one, which highlighted the differences between the two.  Though this is also a 19 year old first fill sherry butt of Glenlivet from Signatory's warehouses, it's its own creature.

This single cask was sold exclusively through Binny's, of Chicago fame.  Rather, it IS being sold at Binny's and remains in stock as of today.  This sample comes from the bottle purchased by My Annoying Opinions, as seen in his own review.  Thanks, MAO!

Distillery: Glenlivet
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 19 years (1995-2015)
Maturation: first fill ex-sherry butt
Cask#: 166947
Alcohol by Volume: 58.3%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
Exclusive to: Binny's

NEAT
It's the color of Willett rye, a good color.  The nose is dense, tough to sort out at first.  Sort of reminds me of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof bourbon for a few moments, also a positive thing.  Plenty of dark chocolate, cigar tobacco, soy sauce, burnt cherries, mint leaves, and honey.  Whereas yesterday's whisky was hotter than expected, today's nose shows less ethyl than anticipated.  Toffee, honey, and molasses.  Cherry cordials, almonds in dark chocolate.  Not sweet, but calmly dry.  Its long finish has chocolate, walnuts, dry sherry, and a little bit of tangy acidic citrus.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
The nose clears up a bit, starting with sherry that's short on fruit, but big on nuts.  Um, good writing?  Then cocoa, tobacco, wood smoke, and a hint of prunes.  The palate is spicier, and more peppery, followed by black cherry gelato and an herbal digestif.  It finishes fruiter than before, with some fresh stones fruits (from the spirit?).  Toffee, bitter smoke, tart rhubarb?

It keeps on tickin' at that strength.  How about a little more water?

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The nose still pretty big.  More stone fruit and flowers.  Tobacco and leather.  The palate reminds me of a younger Glenfarclas.  Dry sherry, dried cherries.  Milk chocolate, black pepper, tart berries.  The sweetness remains in check.  The finish still has a good length.  Very dry, woody, and peppery now.

SOME MORE WORDS:
While yesterday's Glenlivet was full of tongue stripping tannic dryness, today's Glenlivet's dryness comes from the sherry, rendering it more palatable.  It's a solid sherry cask whisky that will appeal to those of us with dry preferences.  Nothing about it really wowed me, but it was much better than its dancing partner.  What did impress was how well it took to water, and that probably wins it a couple more points.  Ultimately my opinion of the sits somewhere between MAO's and WhiskyMusings's.

Availability - Exclusively at Binny's
Pricing - $120
Rating - 86

Single Malt Report: Glenlivet 19 year old 1996 Signatory for K&L Wine Merchants, cask #83265

Though I just did two posts about Edradour distillery, I won't be doing any Edradour whisky reviews this week.  I have no Edradour or Ballechin samples with me because 95% of my sample collection lives in another state (for just a few more weeks!).  But I do have three sherried Glenlivet samples bottled by Signatory!  (For those not in the know, Signatory Vintage owns Edradour Distillery.)

Each of these three sherried Glenlivets were sold exclusively through an American retailer. This first one was sold via K&L Wine Merchants.  I think K&L has had at least five ex-sherry Glenlivet casks from Signatory over the past few years with this cask (I think) being the most recent one.

My sample comes from an OC Scotch Club event I hosted last year.  I didn't try it at the event, so this is my first poke at it.

Distillery: Glenlivet
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 19 years (May 20, 1996 - September 30, 2015)
Maturation: first fill ex-sherry butt
Cask#: 83265
Bottle count: 127 of 521
Alcohol by Volume: 50.9%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants
(Also to note, I tried this side by side with the whisky from tomorrow's review.)

NEAT
Its color is the darkest of the three whiskies this week.  The nose leads with toffee and caramel.  Then a mix of plum wine, dried currants, and creme de cassis.  Furniture polish, Cow Tales candy, and raisins.  Meanwhile the palate is hotter than I expected from the ABV.  It's floral, mouth drying, and tannic.  Some cherry candy, though more burnt butter and halvah.  It finishes with a little bitter coffee.  No, wait.  Bitter green oak.  A curious amount of vanilla meets a slight sourness.  Lots of heat and tannins.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The water blends all the parts together in the nose.  The sherry notes eventually come forward, while the oak is in the midground, and the spirit sleeps in the back.  Dried berries, caramel, orange peel, and burlap/hessian.  The palate is floral and bitter.  Strange combo.  Very bitter oak, sour lemons, with some mild oloroso notes in the background.  The finish is bitter, sour, floral, and long.

SOME MORE WORDS:
Though I find Signatory to the most reliable indie bottler when it comes to quality, they're not perfect, nor should anyone expect them to be.  (Though I have to say they're still batting about .900 for me.)  There was a '92 Strathmill that's one of the blandest whiskies I've tried.  One of K&L's single cask Imperials was much too soapy for me.  And then there's this Glenlivet.

Thanks to the fruits, the nose was enjoyable and vibrant.  It had me anticipating the palate would be similar.  The palate was not even remotely similar.  And the finish was unpleasant.  With water, the palate and finish actually got worse, leading me to spill the final sip down the sink.  My senses tell me the sherry butt was made from American oak, as the caramel, butter, and vanilla are plenty loud.  That's not a bad thing, it's actually pretty common.  But something feels cockeyed about this cask, with the aggressive tannins and bitterness in the mouth to the somewhat low ABV for the whisky's age.  What saves the whisky overall is that I found no oak problems in the good nose, and the whole thing works better when neat.

Once again, there's a dearth of reviews for this cask, something I often find with K&L exclusives.  It seems like Sku, MAO, Jordan, and I are the only bloggers who post reviews of their stuff.  Anyone else?  There isn't even an entry for this whisky in Whiskybase.  I bring this up because I wonder if anybody found this tannic/bitter issue.  So I ask you, my lovely readers, to weigh in via the comment section below.  Am I crazy (about this particular thing)?

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - $90
Rating - 75 (neat only, 5-10 points lower with water)

The Spring Whiskies: Glenlivet Nadurra 16 year old, batch 0309H

Ha HA! I did take a picture
of this one.

Man, the last time I reviewed the Nadurra was way back during this blog's first few months of whisky reviews.  I'm not even sure which batch I had reviewed.  Things have changed since then.

I've always thought Nadurra was in a league separate from Glenlivet's 12 and 15 year olds, sort of like Glenfiddich's Distillery Edition compared to its own 12 and regular 15.  But I actually like Fiddich's 12 and 15, while I cannot say the same about Glenlivet's 12 and 15.  In fact, it's difficult to name any official 10-12yo single malt that I like less than the current Glenlivet 12.

Unlike some of its younger brethren, Nadurra 16 is all ex-bourbon barrel stuff.  In some batches, one can find really good casks in the mix.  While I've heard that recent batches (from 2013 and especially 2014) didn't match the quality of earlier ones, I can neither confirm or deny that possibility.  What I can confirm is that as of 2015 the age statement has gone away and the prices have risen.  Meanwhile, there are now NAS cask strength bourbon barrel batches, NAS cask strength sherry cask batches, and 48%abv batches of both for duty free.  Recently I had a glass of the CS sherry stuff and found the nose to be better than the palate, though with air the palate improved.  But overall it wasn't good enough to inspire me to buy a bottle.

Wow, that last paragraph was a mess.  I'll move on.

This bottle of Nadurra was from batch 0309H, which means it was the eighth batch overall and was dumped together in March 2009.  The bottling code on the back of the bottle shows April 2009.  And on the front it has the old Nadurra label.

Brand: The Glenlivet

Ownership: Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard)

Region: Speyside (Livet)

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Maturation: American (ex-bourbon) oak casks

Age: minimum 16 years

Batch: 0309H (batched in March 2009)

Bottled: April 2009

Alcohol by Volume: 55.1%

Colored? Possibly

Chillfiltered? No

NEAT

The color is a medium gold; there appears to be less e150a here than in Glenfiddich's Distillery Edition.  The nose begins very fruity: exotic tropical stuff, overripe peaches, clementines, and ripe honeydew.  Over time the fruit notes become more floral.  Meanwhile there are also notes of salted caramel ice cream, toffee pudding, and key lime pie, along with brief moments of vinyl raincoats and barrel char.  The palate is fruity up front too, more like lemon and lime zests.  It's thick and (wood) spicy.  Puddings, hard candies, and lollipops surround a roasty malt core.  Time in the glass reveals smaller notes of salt, burnt grains, and black peppercorns.  The long finish has rich vanilla and caramel, along with black cherry soda and lime lollipops.  This sweetness is met by a hint of spicy rye spirit and black peppercorns.

WITH WATER (~43%abv)
In the nose the tropical fruits recede, giving way to oakier things like barrel char, caramel candy, and toffee.  The clementine oranges are still in there.  As is a note that I can only describe as Mathilda's all natural baby wipes (some combo of cucumber/chamomile/licorice root).  The palate reads almost like a sweet and simple floral bourbon.  Lots of wood spice and caramel.  It finishes floral as well.  Also some powdered ginger, cinnamon, and char.

I reeeeeeaaaaaallllly like this batch, but until this official tasting I had never added water.  While it's acceptable whisky at 43%, it's much better when neat.

Some folks might find it to be too much on the sweet and fruity side.  Perhaps the oak gets a little loud sometimes.  And it's not the most complex thing.  But d-a-m-n do I dig it.  It smells and tastes delicious.  I wish Glenlivet hit this sweet spot more often.  And, you know, I don't really have any commentary other than that.  Recommended.

Availability - (all 16yo batches) still easily found at most specialty retailers

Pricing - (all 16yo batches) a wide range, from $60 to $90

Rating - (this batch only!)  89

Notes from a Tasting: Escape to Las Vegas 2015

I've lost track how many times I've been to Las Vegas.  More than 20 times, probably fewer than 25.  Usually my brother is my coconspirator.  He organized my bachelor's party in LV in 2010.  Though we had an awesome ridiculous time there, it was then that I began to learn the time limits to a Vegas getaway.  On subsequent trips, it has become even clearer.  Two nights are perfect.  One night is not enough.  Three nights are wearying, and it's not just one's own gambling and drinking that run its course.  Here's out how it goes:

Night 1 - Woohoo!  You're tired from the flight/drive but by utilizing alcohol and caffeine, you'll just blast through!  Due to exhaustion and sensory overload, you don't really notice much about your surroundings except for the hot people and weird people.

Day/Night 2 - If you didn't lose all of your money on Night 1, you stay sober enough to do some relatively responsible gambling.  Once you or one of your crew have a good night at the tables, you then stay out stupidly late.

Day 3 - You are hungover.  You eat too much at a breakfast buffet, swearing off those feeding troughs for life, again.  You decide to wander The Strip to see the new casinos.  There are no old casinos.  You begin to notice that Americans no longer make up the majority of the tourists here.  But everyone, regardless of nationality, seems to have the same empty look on his and her faces.

Night 3 - Dinner at one of the new, decent, possibly overpriced restaurants.  You're trying not to lose any more money, so maybe you'll just get plastered instead.  But after two beers, it becomes laborious.  So you go back to wandering and people watching.  Gradually the emotional and sensory weight of tens of thousands of people submitting to depression-fueled destruction begins to hollow out your soul.

This March, I stayed in Vegas for four nights.  That was a lot.  Especially with my infant daughter, Mathilda, strapped to me.  My wife had an eleven day (dear god) conference at City Center.  Mathilda and I tagged along for the first third.  We ate well, which is one of the upsides of Vegas.  Dave Chappelle arrived at the hotel just as we did, then I saw him again later at Starbucks.  So that was cool.  My daughter and I walked The Strip a bit.  I ogled the new stuff, mourned the loss of the old stuff, as I'm sure she did as well.

I limited myself to one night of gambling.  After I won a not insignificant amount of money via video poker, I immediately exited the casino (as I always do after winning).  What was I to do with my winnings?  Save it for Japan!  This cash would help make that voyage more comfortable.  But I had to do something now to celebrate.  So, I did what I did the last time I won well there: go to Craftsteak and get some whisky that I couldn't otherwise afford...

Tending bar was Larry, the same friendly chap who was there the last time I'd stopped by to spend my winnings, two years ago.  He handed me a tablet with an interactive menu app.  The first thing I noticed was Craftsteak's selection, while still one of the best in the city, is nowhere near as extensive as it used to be.  They used to have loads of incredible indies and dead distillery malts.  There were tons of "craft" bourbons and plenty of officially bottled scotches on their shelves.  They also still don't have whisky glasses, which is a little weird, so I used a bulbous wine glass instead.  Larry brought over a whole bunch of bottles to the table because I'm a pain in the ass (don't worry, I tipped him well) and also because almost no one else was at the bar.  I almost dropped a mint, a pile, a boatload on a glass of Highland Park 30, but at the last minute I called an audible and spent the same amount of cash on these two instead:

Tomatin 34 year old 1976 Duncan Taylor "The Octave" cask 682039, 46.3%abv

Color - Dark gold, but then again the bar's lighting was dark gold

Nose - Biscotti with Nutella.  Mint chip ice cream.  Milk chocolate.  There was also an herbal + malt note still lingering after all these years.

Palate - Loads of cayenne pepper.  A groovy herbal bitterness.  Seared beef with mango and peaches.  The oak can't cover up that fruitiness.  Maybe some soil.

Finish - Tropical fruit, salt, dried blueberries and currants.

Thoughts and things: This was my first Tomatin 1976.  If one believes in whisky vintages then this is considered one of the great ones.  Though I have many doubts about the whole vintage theory (as I've previously stated many times), I still had my expectations high.  So while this was very good whisky, it wasn't tremendous or moan inducing.  I'm wondering if the tiny octave cask had something to do with it.  Anyway the finish, while colorful, was sort of brief.  The nose was nice, but I've found those same notes in younger and cheaper Glenfarclas.  The palate was excellent though, and easily the best part.  If only the other parts could have matched it!  I am thankful for the opportunity to have tried this.  I believe that had I sampled this blindly, I may have had a higher opinion of the overall package.

Grade range:  B/B+

Glenlivet 21 year old Gordon & MacPhail, 43%abv
Color - Medium gold
Nose - Straightforward.  Dusty grains, a little bit of perfume, and lots of apricot.
Palate - Lightly creamy, mostly fruity spirit notes.  Orange, tangerines, peach candy, elderflower syrup.  A moderate amount of vanilla.
Finish - Sweet, but also crisp and tart.  The vanilla, elderflower, and peach remains.

Thoughts and things: There was a motive behind this selection: I've been window-shopping this bottle for over a year.  According to Whiskybase, its average price is $40 cheaper than that of the official (and much more prevalent) 21 year old.  Plus the pour price was reasonable by LA/LV standards.  And......I saved myself $130+ because I don't need to buy a whole bottle now.  The whisky itself is good.  I have no qualms about its quality.  Probably right smack dab in the middle of Grade B Land.  It's simple, easy drinking, without any major flaws.  Exactly what I'd desire in the (shrinking) $40-$60 range.  But it's not in that price range, which is a bummer.  Still, it was a perfectly satisfying one time thing.  And now I can walk away and lust after another pretty thing.
Grade range: B

My indulgences ended here.  A third drink would likely have been wasted on my tired senses, and that money could be better spent in Japan (and it was).  I walked back to the hotel elated and peaceful, for just a moment.  One is allowed so few of those moments as a new parent.

Single Malt Report: Glenlivet 12 year old (bottled in 1980s)

This was the first of my four pours at Bar Cordon Noir.

Distillery: Glenlivet
Age: minimum 12 years
Bottling date: 1980s
Maturation: Probably a mix of ex-bourbon casks and ex-sherry casks
Region: Speyside
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

NEAT
Its color is light gold.  The nose begins with loads of barley and fresh whole wheat bread.  Then come the fresh loquats, followed by Oloroso sherry in a Campari-coated glass.  With time there's some new carpet and burnt pie crust.  The palate is pleasant and soft, but with some sticky thickness.  It reads as loads of baked fruits one moment, then fruit punch and orange peels the next.  A bit of anise and black licorice too.  Then it's capped by a wave of Talisker-like pepper.  The finish is lengthy but uncomplicated.  Citrus, papaya, and malt.

WITH WATER
Orange, pear, mint, and soda bread now appear on the nose.  A lot of roses on the palate.  The pepper enters the finish, along with milk chocolate.

Something gruesome happened to Glenlivet's cask management over the past thirty years.  (Or maybe more recently because the early Nadurra batches were very good and occasionally the current 18 year old is too.)  On New Year's Eve 2007/8, I had my first negative run-in with Glenlivet 12.  I sipped and it was......not good.  The finish was short and awful and apparently memorable because the sense memory still exists.  And this was before my prima donna whisky snobbery.  I've tried the 12 annually ever since, and it's not getting better.  So when the rumors started coming in that Pernod's phasing it out for an NAS Founder's Reserve I shed not a tear.

Meanwhile, having twice tried the 1980s version of the Twelve, I find no similarity between it and the current version.  The Twelve as it existed thirty years ago was a lightly-sherried well-textured rich single malt that could stand proudly next to any (and above many) of today's twelve year old Speysiders.  I cannot say the same thing about the current version.  The three extra ABV points (43 versus 40) are nice but that wouldn't explain most of the change.  There was no extra peating going on at the time of this one's bottling.  Perhaps they have since changed barley varieties, sped up the fermentation time, and attempted to distill faster.  But I think the cask management is the main culprit.  The oak in the current 12 is bland, resinously bitter, and cardboardy.  None of those words can be used for either of the '80s bottlings that I've tried.  And just to add to the fun, the 1980s version swims very well, while the current addition is already very watery as is.

I'm not saying that this 1980s Glenlivet is A+ whisky, but it's damn good whisky.  And I wish Glenlivet still made stuff like this.

Availability - Probably the occasional auction

Pricing - ???

Rating - 86

Bar Cordon Noir is the bar of my dreams

I used to have a whisky fantasy of walking into that bar or that store that no one else had found and time had forgotten.  The shelves would be stacked full of old whiskies I'd never even heard of and with prices that were from before the "boom".  Having dusty-hunted between 100 and 200 stores in neighborhoods forgotten by the rest of society, I have ended the hope of ever finding that impossible store.  And, in reality, bars are even worse.  Those who have the product tend to think they can charge a great premium for the product.  And there are probably less than a handful of bars in California that have an interesting inventory.  I had no expectations of finding anything worthy of hyperbole when I went to Japan.  Bar Shot Zoetrope was a wonderful experience, and definitely the go-to Japanese whisky bar in Tokyo (and possibly the world), but I knew in general what I was going to find there.  I barely knew that Bar Cordon Noir even existed.  No one has written about it online.  Those who know have said nothing.  And now I'm going to spoil it.

Cordon Noir was not the first whisky bar I was going hit while in Kyoto.  Nor was I going to wait until the last night to search it out.  But, as I wrote on Friday, my trip was a physical challenge and left me craving rest rather than drink.  There were visits to regular bars to have a beer and a survey of the shelves during the day, but only at establishments that appeared on my path.  Night after night went by until I was left with the final one.

Though the sign clearly states that Bar Cordon Noir is on the third floor, the exterior stairs lead to an unmarked door underneath blackened windows.  The second floor business is also a bar, a bar that proudly serves Suntory products.  So I went back down to the elevator in front of the small building and took it to the third floor.  Sure enough, it opened to Cordon Noir's front door.  And at 7:30 I entered.

I have been to a number of bars that claim to have 200, 300, or 500 whiskies.  Yet upon arrival I always discover that they have, at most, a quarter of their claim.  Never have I stood in a bar that made good on an outrageous inventory statement.  Until now.

If you take a look at my terrible panoramic photo at the top, you'll see the shelves from end to end.  You may think, that doesn't look like 800 whiskies.  Well, dear reader, that is because those bottles are stacked three deep.  Yes, for every bottle you see, there are two completely different whiskies behind it.  And nearly none of the 800 whiskies are new releases, as almost everything on the shelves was bottled during previous decades.

The bar was empty of people, save for a man in a black vest wiping a glass (of course!).  He was looking at me, smiling, probably seeing me whispering religious declarations to myself.  His name is Makoto Ono, the manager and bartender of Bar Cordon Noir.  All I could say aloud was, "So much whisky."  He looked at the shelves and confirmed my statement.

A dozen old black Cadenhead dumpies over here.  Four, maybe five, Ladyburns over there.  Allied-era Glendronachs.  Independent Taliskers.  For some reason, I mentioned old Glenlivet; he put five bottles of 'Livet from the early '70s in front of me.  Late-sixties Longmorn?  Here are four.  How about Ardmore?  Four from the '70s.  Every label was old, but pristine.

Oh my god, I had to focus.  Don't look at the old bourbons.  Don't look at the blends.  Must ignore the Japanese whisky for now.  Have to make a plan.  Okay, I'll pick my favorite distilleries...

For a moment, I couldn't name a single one.  Okay, Ardmore.  There's one.  Old Caperdonich, another.  He brought down a '68.  I spied the 1980s version of Glenlivet that I'd tried a few months earlier.  I knew it was tasty and a good way to test the palate.  That could be my starter.  Then I'd go to the Caperdonich.  Then maybe the Ardmore?  I love Ardmore.  But.  I saw a 1974 Clynelish on the shelf, and I knew that the next time I'd be drinking 1970s Clynelish would be 40 years from now in the bullshit stories I'd tell about what we used to drink.  The '74 Clynelish would bat third.  What would hit cleanup?  My thoughts were blank, simple neural connections weren't occurring and I didn't have an internet connection to assist.  The shelves, what's on the shelves.  Of course.  Springbank.  He brought out a '72 Chieftains and a '69 Signatory.  I went with the Chieftains as it the whisky told tales of an old ruby-colored sherry butt existence.

My mates for the evening

During my stay, I watched Ono-san elegantly build cocktails for another customer, carefully pour a 1991-bottled Blanton's over a massive block of ice, and climb the shelves to pluck bottles from their exact hidden places.  He was an artist, exacting and precise, but never ostentatious.  And he knew every price off the top of his head.  As for those prices?  The four good pours listed below cost in total about the same price as, yes, two glasses of Johnnie Walker Blue Label at a Los Angeles bar.

1.  Glenlivet 12 year old, bottled in the 1980s
2.  Caperdonich 36 year old 1968 Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseur's Choice (46% abv version)
3.  Clynelish 1974 Modern Masters
4.  Springbank 30 year old 1972 Chieftain's

As I took that picture of the four bottles, my mind cleared and my eyes saw the moment.  This was really happening and it might never happen again, so I made sure to proceed carefully and document it fully.  There were four drams.  Three hours.  At least twelve glasses of water.

Starting tomorrow and ending Friday, I will post a review of each of these whiskies.  Four posts in four days.

Whisky with Florin - Part Four: The Glenphroaig

(continued from Part Three, here)

THE GLENPHROAIG

FV: Here are the tasting notes. Let me remind you that this uses a different bottle of the Glenlivet Nadurra than your sample (that was batch 0112R, b 01/12, 55.0%) - but I'm happy to send you the new version too! [Ed.: Received, sampled, and noted below!]

GlenPhroaig 10yo Double Malt, 55.5% (batch #2)
--2/3 Glenlivet Nadurra 16yo batch 0410J b. 04/10, 54.3%
--1/3 Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength batch 1 b. 02/09, 57.8%.

Color: light amber.

Nose: warm and inviting, Belgian chocolate bakery, confectioner's sugar, freshly cooked bitter orange marmalade. Some nutmeg and cardamom. Much spicier than my earlier batch that used the 01/12 Glenlivet Nadurra! The smoke is well integrated, no peat reek here!

Body: supple but firm and mouth coating - elegant. (For some reason the body is important to me, it really makes or breaks a whisky.) This is so good at cask strength I don't want to add water!

Taste: the spicy bitter orange chocolate theme continues on the palate. More peat, but well coated in salty, mouthwatering sweet malt. This is peat candy, the high street version of salt water taffy.

Finish: lingers on forever, satisfying; continues to evoke the peat and bitter orange from the nose and palate.

With water: why would I want to do that?!?

Comments: wow, this is good! The blend retains all the high points of the Laphroaig CS, but with its aggro side polished off. No licking ashtrays here! This is the Chopin of whisky, cannons hidden beneath flowers and all that. I would have never thought of calling a Laphroaig-based whisky "elegant", yet that's the word that comes to mind. Surprisingly, it's really well balanced! The other intriguing aspect is how different this blend is from my first batch using a different bottle of the Glenlivet Nadurra, the 01/12. I really liked that one too, but it did not have the spice and bitter orange notes of this version. In Compass Box terms, if that was the Oak Cross, this is the Spice Tree. Unfortunately it's long gone, so I rely on memory here…

MK: It's funny you mentioned peat candy, I caught a hint of a peated whisky cocktail (with simple syrup and bitters) in the nose. As opposed to the bitter oranges in your batch, I caught lemons and apples (fully peat-infused)...but that was just Batch 1...

Ah, let's just get to the full notes:

BATCH 1:
Color: light amber with yellow and green highlights
(I've spotted this same tint in official Laphroaigs)

Nose: Peated whisky cocktail (malt, simple syrup, bitters), brine, nougat, bourbon(?), vanilla, peated apples, white oak infused with peat smoke. Complete peat integration.

Palate: Ashes then flowers. Cannons beneath flowers indeed! Maple syrup, then lemon lime soda. Cayenne pepper and peat moss. Very rich but not a bruiser. 

Finish: Lemony peat (or peaty lemons?), sooty fire place, and brown sugar. Those peated apples again. The strength of the Laphroaig CS carries the day. 

BATCH 2:
Color: Light gold with those green highlights

Nose: Candied and toasty peat, orange rind, bran muffins, apples and lemons, a little band-aid TCP note, a floral hint, and cinnamon custard.

Palate: Wood smoke floats above apple juice and fresh lemonade.  Brown sugar in front, malt in the middle, peated tropical fruits at the end.

Finish: Substantial again! Barbecue-smoked ripe apples, peated pineapple. Lemon sour candies infused with peppery spice.

Both batches are stellar stuff.  These vattings create a new single whisky from two very different elements.  I think someone needs to start up his own blending establishment. :)  How long do you let the elements marry? Do you give it a little shake once in a while or just let it settle? I'm taking notes here...

FV: I'm never too rigorous or serious about the blending. The result might improve over a few days, but I never have that much patience. I might try something new in sample bottles or in the glass, and if I like it I will ramp it up to a regular size bottle. At that level the bottle does indeed last longer and therefore it blends better in time. Shaking occurs naturally every time I pour. :) But once again, no lab coats here, this is just for fun. And I've never said "ooh, I really like this whisky, I wonder how it would taste mixed in with some Highland Park!", it was always about fixing or rescuing something I wasn't totally happy with.

MK: Do you have any home blends in mind for the future? Or do you think your next one will be born out of necessity like the GlenPhroaig?

FV: Here are a couple nice blends that I blundered into recently. I added some Laphroaig to a bottle of Springbank 10yo which was heavy on sherry and overly sweet for my taste. That made it much more interesting, a home-made Longrow of sorts. It certainly did not last long, in a few days it was gone!

By now you are probably thinking that I just add Laphroaig to everything, which is probably not a great general strategy. But here is an interesting combination: the other night I was drinking a 19yo Glendronach, single cask, cask strength. One of their sherry bombs, with the texture of balsamic vinegar, and tasting like pure dark chocolate. It feels more like an ingredient really, rather than a finished whisky you want to drink! So I poured some over a glass of Speyburn 10yo. The Speyburn tamed the attack of the Glendronach, without diluting the strength. The result was much more balanced and enjoyable, and it reminded me of the Glenfarclas 105, one of the best ex-sherry whiskies out there.

MK: I remember trying that Springbank 10yr and wondering why they were sweetening up their great malt.  The Laphroaig addition sounds like a good fix.  Do you have any advice for those of us floundering with our own blend experiments? Some Dos and Don'ts perhaps?

FV: Blending whisky is like cooking. Once you get a feel for it you don’t really need recipes, the ingredients speak to you and tell you what they need. Peated whiskies like Laphroaig seem to be good additions, especially in small quantities, but the base whisky needs to have a good backbone – medium/thick body, or a lot of personality, or at least high strength. I would not mix bad whiskies hoping to get something good, the original ingredients must have at least something going for them. You need to have a few open bottles to work with, you need enough colors on your palette if you want. And the best ingredients to work with are those that are not too processed already. You want prime colors: all-out peaty whiskies, like Laphroaig; all-bourbon cask whisky, like most 10yo and 12yo out there, or of course, single casks. The older distillery bottlings often already have a proportion of sherry casks blended in, in order to taste more expensive, so I wouldn’t use these, unless I want to fix them. But what do I know? Go out there, play with your whiskies, and let us all know what you found!

I just want to add here that I’m grateful for your very engaging and entertaining blog, and I’ve enjoyed very much this dialogue! Thank you Michael!

MK: Thank you, Florin. I'm indebted to you and all the great generous whisky folks out there who have shared, educated, traded with, and drank with me. Without you all I would still be sipping vodka on the rocks. Okay maybe that's a little severe.  But you all have helped enrich my life with all things related to the sensory splendor of aged distilled spirits. And to my readers, I can't thank you all enough!  You inspire me to raise my standards every day.  Happy Friday!

Single Malt Report: Taste Off, Part 2. The Glenlivet 18 year old

Surprise!  Whisky #2 was Glenlivet 18!

Okay, maybe not that big of a surprise.

Last week I matched up their 12 year olds, this week I tried their 18 year olds side by side.

I allowed Glenlivet a bit of a handicap.  Being that I've historically preferred Glenfiddich's spirit, I gave Glenlivet the second spot in the Taste Off, thus giving it more time to develop in the glass.

Now, unlike the GF 18, the GL 18 weighs in at 43% ABV, in both the UK and the US.  And if you squint, you can see that my GL sample was at 43%.  Otherwise, like the 'Fiddich, it's also colored and filtered.  And, like with the 'Fiddich, my expectations were thusly set a little low.

And it surpassed them.

SECOND WHISKY ON THE BILL

Brand: The Glenlivet

Ownership: Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard)

Region: Speyside (Livet)
Type: Single Malt Whisky
Maturation: 85% American (ex-bourbon) oak casks, 15% Spanish (ex-oloroso) oak casks

Age: minimum 18 years

Alcohol by Volume: 43%

TASTIN'

Round 1 - neat, in a covered glass for 35-40 minutes before sampling

The color is dark gold with ruby highlights.  The nose starts with sweet sherry and molasses.  Has some notes that are reminiscent of the 15yr (cocoa and pencil shavings) even though that bottling spent time in Limousin Oak.  Buttery American oak notes develop over time.  Then there's some nice creamy milk chocolate and toffee.  The palate proves to be quite different.  Very fruity in fact: mango, green grapes, and peaches.  There's some caramel sauce, and maybe a touch of berries.  It gets sweeter the longer it's in the glass.  It's still sweet through the finish, with that hint of berries, more peaches, and pencils.

Round 2 - with water (down to 35.8% ABV)

There's that musty cocoa-pencil note from the 15yr in the nose again.  Some subtle white fruit.  And something lovely, perhaps cognac-ish.  The palate leads with peach and citrus juice.  Some hints of sherry.  Quite sweet, almost like wheat whiskey.  And...well...Moss Man action figure.  Yep.  Moss Man's still there in the finish, though quietly.  The sherry, peach, and sugars are much louder.

The verdict?

My favorite Glenlivet yet.

Though I enjoyed the Glenfiddich 18's berry notes more than I can defend, the Glenlivet 18 was more complex.  It's curious stuff.  I wouldn't mind a second round of it to dig further.

A great price on this one.  Like the GF 18, it's not a powerhouse; it's anything but burly.  Quite polite.  More suitable for these damn hot summer days and nights than a meaty sherry bomb or a peat wallop.  If you like the GL 12, then I wouldn't doubt you'd like its older sister.  And she's legal.

Availability - Most liquor specialists
Pricing - $65-$75, great price for its age
Rating - 87