Scotland, Speyside: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making, production and tasting notes

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The Glenlivet

Description of the whisky

The distillery

Glenlivet distillery
Glenlivet Distillery
Ballindaloch
Banffshire
AB37 9DB
+44 1542 783 220
Owner: Pernod-Ricard
Creation date1824

Photos

The family of George Smith was producing whisky in the valley of the Livet for ages. Their name was "Gow" till they preferred changing in it "Smith" after a lost battle against England. When the Excise Act which made it possible to produce legal whisky was promulgated in1823, George Smith was the first one who applied for such a licence. He got his licence in 1824 and began distilling legally in his farm. The Duke of Gordon, landlord and father of the Excise Act was very pleased to see the results of this first legal distillery. But the moonshine distillers were not so happy. Some of them even threaten him with death, and the Duke of Gordon lent him 2 shotguns, which still can be seen in the visitor centre of the distillery.
His son, James Gordon Smith founded a distillery named Delnabo near Tomintoul in 1849. He was not really successful, and George took over his son's distillery, and renamed it Cairngorn.
In 1858, George and James joined together to build a bigger distillery near Minmore, where the present distillery is settled. Both of the distilleries owned by the family were closed and demolished. The new distillery was nearby the railway, which facilitates lots of things for a distillery. The commercial success was also due to the exclusive distributor, Andrew Usher & Co who is by the way the inventor of the blended whisky with the unchanging consistency which made the success of blends.
In the 1880's, The Glenlivet was so famous that some other unscrupulous distillers began to use its name on their own bottlings.John Gordon Smith went to court and won partially his case. He was the only one who was authorized to use the name of Glenlivet without any other added word. His distillery became then "The Glenlivet", but others had the right to add the name Glenlivet to their own name. The trademark was registered in 1870.
The current owner of the distillery would like to go further, and oblige his competitors to abandon the name of Glenlivet in the name of their distillery. To make an example, he renamed one of the distilleries belonging to his group from Braes of Glenlivet in Braeval.
Glenlivet merged with Glen Grant in 1853. In 1958 a fire destroyed the original buildings.
In the early 70's, Glenlivet and Glen Grant acquired the Longmorn distillery to become "The Glenlivet Distillers" taken over in 1977 by the Seagram group.
The distilleries belonging to the "Chivas and Glenlivet Group", property of Seagram, were bought by the Pernod-Ricard group on 19 december 2001.
The only period where The Glenlivet had to close was the second world war, because of a lack of barley.
Besides the marketing as single malt, the whisky is used form premium blends like Chivas Regal and Royal Salute

The whisky

A propos des notes de dégustation Your own tasting notes

List of the bottles

Description of the distillery

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 Glenlivet: official bottlings
 

Glenlivet 12 years
Age
 12 years
Alcohol percentage
 40%
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros< 25 euros
 
 The colour is pale gold and the fresh and floral nose is marked by citrus fruit (lemon).
The palate, dry, light and mellow reveals some flower, fruit (citrus, peach) and vanilla hints. The finish, from average lengths finishes on malt touches.
 A slight malted and acidulate smell let easily categorize this whisky among those of the Speyside area. Not really complex. The palate confirms the nose. A good whisky, but a little "flat" compared to other malts from this area. The finish, short, is not unforgettable. A good bottle, certainly considering its price. A low entry bottle which gives quite a good idea of what single malt is, but without all the richness which makes a very good single malt.
15/20
The second nosing was also marked by this slightly acid hint (citrus fruit - sweet lemon). The palate felt the same acidity, rather straight, without complexity, but however rather pleasant. A short finish, coming back to the malt with still the presence of sweet citrus fruit.
15/20

Comment by Henrik Johansson

Appearance: Bright yellow, new gold.
Nose: Mellow and peppery. Floral, leafy, fresh fruit, new wood.
Flavour: The mouth feel is very clean and creamy, smooth textures. Salty and smooth to begin with, then leathery with a whiff of spring fruits. Salty and sharper towards the end. Leather lingers in the finnish.
Development: Best drink fast. After an hour in the air the aromas have reduced significantly in intensity and developed a feeling of spilled ale.
Comments: An exceptionally smooth and pleasant dram. The best 12 year old Speyside malt I've tried.
87/100

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Glenlivet
12 years American oak matured
Age
 12 years
Alcohol percentage
 40%
Cask
 American oak
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros< 25 euros
 
 After maturation in traditional oak casks, the whisky has been transferred in specially selected casks made from American oak, which were burned inside.
The time time gives the whisky matured in those conditions its unique touches of subtly balanced vanilla and other complex characteristics of this excellent Speyside malt.
 The Glenlivet is not characterized by eccentric maturation experiences. The distillery is for years and years THE reference of Speyside single malts, and its whisky has always had an amazing price-quality ratio. Also this bottle, matured in new (first burned inside) American oak casks follows the same rule. Very sweet, the whisky is amazing by its long and pleasant finish. I really recommend this bottle.
17/20
The floral nose reveals some slightly acid hints on a background of malt. In the palate, this whisky is rather sweet and relatively complex, but remains dominated by the floral character of the first nosing. The finish is rather long and dry, slightly bitter.
17/20
The nose is slightly spiced with floral hints on a background of vanilla and malt. The mouth is less interesting than the nose was, but is however rather complex, with tastes of malt to sweet citrus fruit through fruity but quite insipid fruity hints. The finish is rathre long, fruity and is characterized by a kind of acidity contrasting with the palate which was rather sweet (even too sweet).
16/20
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Glenlivet
12 years French oak finish
Age
 12 years
Alcohol percentage
 43%
Particularity
 French Oak
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros< 25 euros
 
 This whisky finishes its maturation in new Limousin oak casks, which are used for maturation of Cognac. The characteristic of french oak is coarse grained, which gives the whisky a distinct character, well balanced with hazelnuts and spice touches.
The colour is amber, the nose is rich with flower hints and a perfumed sweetness which gives an impression of spices in the palate. The taste is dry with hazelnuts hints.
The finish is pleasant, slightly spicy.
Undoubtedly a great quality bottle, however may be too much balanced. A great sweetness, slightly honeyish is the first nose impression. The palate has the same impression, but the honey gets more spicy, pleasant. A average finish crowns the whole and the feeling of having drunken a good whisky stays for minutes. Also a very good price-quality ratio.
16/20
A sweet nose, with very pleasant hints of hazelnuts and ripe fruits, an a bit later on spicy ones (sweet pepper). In the palate, the same impressions, a great sweetness without any aggressiveness, with a quite nice hazelnut taste on the background and a subtle complexity, varying from very slight acid notes to some delicious sweet hints. The finish is rather short but quite pleasant too.
18/20
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Glenlivet 15 years
Age
 15 years
Alcohol percentage
 43%
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros< 25 euros
 
 The Glenlivet 15 y o is an unique mix of rich fruity aromas and refined spring flowers fragrances.
Very sweet in the palate with a long and smooth finish, this is an excellent edition.
All the refinement expected from a great Speyside single malt is in this bottle. The nose recognizes lots of sweet and perfumed hints. Very well balanced. The taste of this whisky is wonderfully balanced, with the right touches of honey, malt and sweet fruit. A very good finish, unfortunately too short. It's a pity because one would really like to enjoy it longer.
18/20
A rather full nose, with sweet and pleasant floral smells/ In the palate, a kind of bitter acidity, balanced by some background malted sweetness. A pleasant but too short finish, allying bitterness to sweetness.
17/20
The nose is rather discrete and floral, without any aggressivity nor suprise. A sweet smell of flowers. In the mouth, the same smoothness dominates, withs slightly woody notes. A nice balance. The finish is in the same spirit, smooth and pleasant. Not too short, and smooth, just like the rest.
17/20
The pleasant nose is rather linear and marked by malted barley and spices (pepper). The smell palette is not very wide. The mouth is sweet even if some slightly acid hints sometimes enhance the whole which remains rather flat, surprise less. Barley, homey, sweetness, no surprise. The finish is of average quality in both its length and its "colour". A consensual whisky without any surprise.
16/20
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Glenlivet
18 years
Age
 18 years
Alcohol percentage
 43%
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
 
 The colour is deep gold, nose floral with sweetness and spices.The palate detects fruit and long acid touches .
 The smell reveals undoubtedly a Speyside. With all ingredients. The first impression in the mouth is that there is some lack of smoothness. I found it rough. As all my tasting happen blind, and because I quote the whisky before I know from which distillery it comes, I was disappointed to notice I just gave 15 to a Glenlivet, and to an 18 years old Glenlivet... I guess it deserves another tasting...
15/20
The second tasting was completely different. The nose is rather rich and spicy. The palate is complex and rather smooth (unlike my impression at the first tasting). A rather long finish. A good bottle.
18/20
The nose is rich and complex and reveals nice floral notes, with a hint of spices. In the palate, the same complexity without any aggressiveness and a mix of malted sweetness and some slightly spiced notes. A nice finish, not too long however, with spicy and woody hints. A very good bottle.
18/20
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Glenlivet
15 years
Archive
Age
 15 years
Alcohol percentage
 43%
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
 
 There is a tradition that the still master reserves some casks he considers as exceptional in the distillery "archive", and this casks are bottled when the still master retires.
The Glenlivet is one of the best distilleries from Scotland, and this special edition, called Archive, selected by the still master is in the rule. An excellent Speyside. I consider the whiskies from this area as extremely smooth and balanced and I estimate they have some lack of character, compared to Island or Highland whisky. That's why the quotation in not higher. A simple matter of personal taste.
17/20
The nose is rather discrete and reveals some slightly acid malt hints. The palate confirms the acidity, combined to a great complexity and some hazy peat touches with dry apricots. A rather long and pleasant finish.
18/20
At the third tasting, the nose was very discrete, revealing a malty smell with spices (pepper) and a slight acidity. The malt dominates the palate as well, with a hint of pepper, but the whole giving a kind of "watery" character to this bottle. The finish is interesting, specially by the surprising dominance of the spices. But the whole is rather deceiving.
16/20
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Glenlivet: independent bottlings

Glenlivet
Reserve 1990-2006
Cask#26947, 269 bottles
(selected by Van Wees, Netherlands)

Age
 15 ans
Alcohol percentage
 58.6%
Bottler
 Gordon & MacPHail
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
Glenlivet Reserve 1990
The nose seems to be a kind of meeting place for lots of smells, from exotic fruit to cut grass, from spring flower to citrus fruit, with a tingling impression du to the high percentage of alcohol. Fruit dominates, and smells of apple, pear and a touch of lemon come in addition to the mango fragrances.
The nose becomes more and more pleasant as the whisky aerates. After a while it develops on chocolate notes. Very nice evolution indeed. The mouth is very pleasant, first on malt and developing quickly on appel and pear, with some nice slightly bitter hints of cashew nut. Malty sweetness dominates, completed by cocoa notes, and the high percentage of alcohol does not hinder the tasting at all.
The finish is long and warm. Memories of alcohol are quite present but an impression of chocolate malt remains in the mouth for quite a long moment. An excellent bottle.
19/20
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Glenlivet
Cask Collection
17 years

Age
 17 years
Alcohol percentage
 60%
Bottler
 Dewar Rattray
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Glenlivet 17 Dewar Rattray
A nice fruity nose with hints of honey. Nice freshness and a smell of acid drop. Really a promising nose.
The palate is first rather dry and presents a mix of woody bitterness and acid freshness. The nose was better than the mouth seems to be, even if it presents a nice evolution and is full of pleasant surprises.
The finish is above all influenced by the woody bitterness. Successive fresher waves, some perfumed acidity close to citrus, but not completely, brightens the lingering finish up. The finish is superior to the mouth.
Anyway this bottle is far from the consensual smoothness of the official Glenlivets. Clearly more character, even if this bottle is a bit nonplussing at the first contact.
18/20
A very nice nose with superb floral notes, smooth and subtle with remote hints of marshmallow . It really is a delight.
The very first mouth is pleasantly acid. Green apple developing soon on smoother malty notes, while keeping this very nice contrast between the smoothness of the malt and the acidity of the fruit.
The finish equals the nose and the mouth. Alcohol is first rather present, mixing bitter nutty hints with sweeter malty ones. The green apple acidity seems to have disappeared. An excellent bottle.
18/20
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Glenlivet
Cask Strength Rare Auld
37 years

Age
 37 years
Alcohol percentage
 53.4%
Bottler
 Duncan Taylor
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Glenlivet 37 Duncan Taylor
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Glenlivet
1975
Celtic Heartlands

Age
 33 years
Alcohol
 51.2%
Bottler
 Murray MacDavid
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros
Glenlivet 1975
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Glenlivet: samples

Glenlivet
Jean Boyer
One Shot
1990

Alcohol percentage
 46%
Bottler
 Jean Boyer
The nose is clearly fruity, somewhere between pear an melon. Very smooth, without any failing, but without any surprise neither. In the palate, the same fruity impression, very pleasant but without outstanding nuances in first instance. Afer a while, some slightly acid hints come and cheer the general impression up. The mouth is prolongs the nose in the same shapes... A rather short finish, without any surprise neither.
17/20
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Glenlivet
Best Casks of Scotland
1983
Alcohol percentage
 43%
Bottler
 Jean Boyer
Glenlivet 1983 Jean Boyer
Very nice slightly spicy and clearly floral nose.
The palate is pleasantly "diversified" with first quit an acid attack (fruit, green apple) rapidly developing on light nutty notes before coming back on smoother malty and spicy notes. The only criticism I could make about this whisky is that it would probably be even better with a slightly higher percentage of alcohol. But there is no such thing as perfection...
The finish is very pleasant, between spicy smoothness and nutty bitterness.
Probably one of the best Glenlivet I tried.
18/20
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Glenlivet
Nadurra
Age
 16 years
Alcohol percentage
 57.2%
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Glenlivet Nadura
A beautiful nose exquisitely marked by sweet fruity hints, between strawberry and cherry plum with a kind of honey veil above. Very tempting indeed. A nice smell of delicacy.
The sweet character of this whisky is confirmed in the palate. Nice complexity, from sugar to citrus acidity before coming back on sugar again with just a touch of woody bitterness. Very interesting for sugar lovers. I an not a sugar fan, but I have to recognize that this malt is rather interesting, even if I do not like it.
The finish is rather long and a kind of bitterness stacks over the sugar which remains present all along the tasting. In my opinion, it makes this whisky rather sickly.
17/20

Comments by Henrik Johansson

Date of tasting : 4/11 2008
Apperance: Bright jonquiripe corn or new yellow gol
Nose: Quite a prickle at cask strength as can be expected, lots of alcohol associated aromas, acetone and nail varnish remover. Behind that a scent of fresh fruits, mainly pears and also some white wine and vanilla. The straight dram develops cereal aromas like malt milk and oat meal, but it remains predominantly fruity. The alcohol is reluctant to give way to dilution, but the reduced dram lends some fennel and woody hints along w! ith neutral lip balm sort of smell. The woody impressions nicely balances the fresh pears to make a lasting impressions of a fruit garden.
Body: Light to medium, but firm.
Palate: Pear drops, the start is sweet and the middle is drier and the finish dry and bitter. There is also a curiously burnt flavour troughout, not at all smoky but sort of charred, toasted perhaps. Some caramel and a large impact of alcohol in the finish. The reduced dram feels very similar but more straight forward and simpler.
Comments: Definately an easy drinker when diluted- and it can take quite a lot of that-. I'm a big fan of these single cask-style (if you will) bottlings. Perhaps it's good for quality that most standard bottlings are vatted american and european casks, but I for one love these cask stength, single cask-style bottlings.

86/100

 

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Glenlivet
21 years
Archive
Age
 21 years
Alcohol percentage
 43%
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Even if it remains specially discrete, the nose is rather pleasant, very smooth with a touch of sherry and nice floral notes. In the palate, an relative lack of character holds the tastes up to develop nicely. Touches of wood, touches of fruit... A bit of all.. but much to less! The finish is quite woody and the bitterness is compensated by a great smoothness. Even if this version is not bad, it is rather deceiving in the light to the 21 years spent in the cask.
16/20
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Speyside

Speyside Map

The Speyside area is situated at the North of the Cairngorm mountain and goes to the Moray firth. It is delimited by two rivers: the Findhorn at the West side and the Deveron on the East side.
The area is named after the river Spey. Most of the distilleries take their water in one of its affluents; the Fiddich, the Livet or the Avon.
About sixty distilleries from Speyside are described on this site.

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Click on the map for a list of the distilleries of the area, on the title for further information
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