The Glenlivet 25 Year Old Scotch Whisky, 70 cl Gift Set

Product Information

Nose: Sherry-derived purple grape and orange. Vanilla-smooth yet with that sharp sherry overtone like almond skins. Eventually... seems less fruity and more malty, like walnut baklava. The finish lasts forever, with the fruit, peaches, pears and spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, lasting forever, lingering on and on before finally vanishing with just the slightest wisp of spice. When you ask someone about famous Scotch brands, Glenlivet usually is one of the first that comes to mind. Like many of its Highlands and Speyside siblings, the Glenlivet has a long and distinct history of selling delicious Scotches. I’ve greatly enjoyed the Glenlivet Nadurra FF2015 and Glenlivet Nadurra 16. The 16 is one of my personal favorites, but unfortunately discontinued. The Glenlivet 25-year is especially special because it’s one of the the oldest you can buy.

The nose is extremely promising coming at you with an almost bourbon like quality. Strong citrus layered in dark honey, boiled sweets and butterscotch with some Quality Street chocolates. But then a disconcerting whiff of fresh linen which can only lead me to believe the presence of sulphur. It's not terribly off-putting but it certainly does not belong there. Glenlivet made a different style of whisky to that which was current in the region, producing a lighter fruitier new make, something that has continued to this day. The whisky was such a success that he built another distillery in 1850 at Delnabo which never really functioned properly due to problems with the water supply. There were further problems when the original distillery burned down in 1858, something of a perennial problem in the whisky business. In 1859, he opened a new distillery near Ballindalloch where it remains to this day. Now the price. Well I go through a couple 12 YO, 16 YO bottles for about 45.00-65.00 US dollars. I spring for a 18YO around 90.00-110.00 US Dollars and I can honestly say price wise they were good value for the money. It's just an incident of me receiving a sample, what are the tasting notes and what I think of the whisky. Because of this I've found that I'm writing less and that when I write I don't take as much pleasure in it as I used to.Half an hour, 45 minutes later Othmar, myself and a couple of guys that Othmar knew swung by the Glenlivet stand, glencairns in hand. Othmar and I stared at one another in amazement, the nose was lovely, the palate to die for, unfreaking believable! As well as being sold as a single malt, Glenlivet was much in demand by blenders. Blended whisky was taking off in the 19th century, most notably by Edinburg merchant Andrew Usher with his OVG (Old Vatted Glenlivet) which was launched in 1852 and had The Glenlivet as a principle component in the blend. By the 20th century the vast majority of the distillery’s production was going for fillings but in the 1970s Glenlivet once again began to market itself as a single malt, especially in the lucrative US market.

In just two years after the act, the number of licensed distilleries doubled and legal whisky production rose from two million to six million gallons a year. Glenlivet was so prestigious that it gave its name to the whole region, now known as Speyside. To help preserve his brand, George Smith’s son, John Gordon Smith, applied for sole rights to the name, which were granted in 1884 but allowed other producers to hyphenate it with their own names eg. Glenfarclas-Glenlivet, which is still seen today, though very rarely. Which is why the original is known grandly as THE Glenlivet to differentiate itself from all those hyphenated Glenlivets.

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My very good Connosr buddy, Othmar, who many may know as Systemdown, lives in Brisbane, so I talked to the guys and asked if they'd mind if I went to Brisbane.