Signatory Vintage Glenlivet 1981 Aged 36 Years Cask Hand-Picked by The Whisky Exchange

Style: Sherry, Spicy and Oaky

Rating: ☆☆ [Highly Recommended]

Nose:

Begins with a pleasing dark fruits aroma then we are running up a steep ginger slope. Orange drop, chocolate malt, red liquorice scattering around. Barley swimming in molten brown sugar and red cherries. Ginger backbone stays strong. Rich, round and spicy.

Palate:

Dark fruits in abundance at the forefront, purple grapes, black currants with a touch of oily grapefruits to give a slight citrus bitterness. Orange candy, the spice continues to strike a ginger tone. Cherry pie, building upon a peppermint stack, generous pencil shavings and saw dust forming a solid line. Sherry fruits give the malt a lot of depth. Oak walks in comfortably towards the end, nice.

Finish:

Almond biscuits, goji berries and strawberry jam gently trickles down, mellow malt humming softly, delicious.

Thoughts:

Another beautiful Glenlivet we have here. I have tried sherry cask finished Glenlivet with similar specs before, but they were less memorable than this one. The integration feels more complete and comfortable – feels more “natural” if you know what I mean. The sherry, the ginger, the oak combine to great effort and this is what a well-matured Glenlivet is about.

[47.6% | Independent Bottling | 1981 Distilled | 2018 Bottled | Single Cask | Cask Strength | Non Coloured | Cask Number: 12 | 702 Bottles | Finish Period 76 months in a Sherry Butt | **]

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