Glenlivet 18

[bifter]

To summarise the Glenlivet provenance (a distillery with which I am sure most are familiar) it is a Speyside distillery founded by one George Smith. He was one of the first to take advantage of the relaxation of the licensing regime to found his distillery in 1824. The reputation of the Livet terroire was such that many distillers appended 'Glenlivet' to their names and explains why the original distillery is sometimes referred to as 'The' Glenlivet, not least on their own bottlings. Now owned by Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard), Glenlivet can claim to be the second most popular premium malt whisky in the world and number one in the US.

I recently acquired a couple of bottles of the 18 from Waitrose, one at a very tempting discount price of £36.80 and another, a few days later, at an astonishing £26 to clear. I had initially jumped to the conclusion that this would be yet another example of a line being discontinued or prices going up. Only late last year the Lagavulin 16 disappeared from Asda shelves for a similar discount, never to be replaced and those supermarkets that do carry it now charge around £48. However a colleague recently told me that Asda are now carrying the Glenlivet 18 with new packaging so it may (we can only hope) be due to a change in livery.

The Glenlivet is a distillery that I've reviewed before when comparing the (16yo) Nadurra against its elder sibling the (18yo) Nadurra Triumph here:

http://www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2497

This certainly proved the point that age is not everything, the younger (if neater) whisky clearly emerging on top. The 18 is recognisably a cousin but clearly has a stronger sherry influence. The colour is deeper though I believe Glenlivet use caramel colouring so this doesn't necessarily tell us much. The nose is both fruity and flowery, notes associated with sherry casking. The mouthfeel is silky and smooth and the sweet fruity esters just make you salivate - I am put in mind of fruit salad Chewits. The finish is nice and long with a soft oak note to balance the fruit with some dryness. At 43% it still requires a little water to open it up and really get the floral nose going in my opinion. All in all this is a great whisky but not quite in the same league as, say, Highland Park 18. Obviously this is reflected in the price. It's pretty uncomplicated stuff but the smoothness is rare and I'm struggling to recall a whisky that just bursts with fruit like this does. Whatever casks they use they're certainly not cooking sherry and I suspect a measure of seriously aged stuff has found its way into the vat - in fact I found it not altogether unlike last year's Lidl Christmas bargain, the Maxwell 33. Given the Glenlivet Nadurra is around the same RRP price point but is cask strength I would probably veer towards that given the choice but for those who like a smooth, sweet dram this should be just the nectar.
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"Whisky is liquid sunshine."
[George Bernard Shaw]

[Alexppp]

Great review again. One small point - isn't the 18 year-old bottled at 43%, rather than the 46% you've quoted?

Personally I like the 18 but I think it's just that little bit one-dimensional. Smooth and sweet, I agree, but the Nadurra offers a bigger fruit explosion, and the 12 is more vibrant.

[bifter]