Tasting Notes: The Glenlivet 15 French Oak Reserve

The Glenlivet. Or The Real Glenlivet. There’s not much I can say about the distillery that hasn’t already been written somewhere. The distillery was established in 1824 and has generally been killing it since. So much so that until The Glenlivet fought for it, many whisky brands appended “Glenlivet” to their name just to try and get some positive glow from the brand name affiliation. Even Macallan did it. But that was then and this is now. Does the legend hold?

Color: a pale, pale gold

Nose: Strong brown sugar. Almonds, vanilla, some freshly baked raisin bread and spearmint. very delicious nose. there is a little bit of pine there, too. Though you have to search for it.

Palate: very chewy. a decent amount of oak and the raisin bread (though slightly less sweet) is still there. a new cinnamon butter cookie is present, but there’s not as much favor as the nose promises. Even with that, it’s very easy to drink.

Finish: the finish is very nice. it’s long, drying, with an underlying sweetness and a minty tinge on top. The finish lasts quite a bit. A long drying sweet tinged deliciousness.

Overall: So the legend still holds. This is a really delicious dram. It’s one of those whiskies that surprises you with its drinkability, just because the flavor is somewhat complex and layered, but easily approachable. It’s a great dessert dram and a price point of under $40 for a 15 year old whisky is pretty damn great. Price paid: $39.99