George Smith was the first licensed distiller in the parish of The Glenlivet. Tenacious in the face of adversity, he bravely set the tone for future whisky makers. Nose: strong citrus aromas, malt, slightly earthy and floral. (opens up with a few drops of water, floral aromas het much more intense) I’ve sampled Glenlivet drams before, but this one caught my eye as I had some spare cash at the end of the month, and this looked like great value for the price! On the nose: Tropical fruits in the first half. Earthy in the second half. Initially, this is similar to the 12-year-old. There are medium intense aromas of pineapple, dried apricot, sapodilla, and starfruit. After these come light aromas of Fuji apples, honey and coconut sugar syrup. The intensity turns up a bit. It allows me to smell honeydew, orange jam and orange peel. Subtle aromas of French oak characteristics come out. An assortment of mushrooms like dried shiitake and grounded chaga comes to mind.

George Smith is born in 1792 a small hillside farm in the parish of Glenlivet. He came from a long line of illicit distillers. As a young man his perseverance and determination were clear to see. However, as he stepped up to support his family. He was working as a joiner, building barns, mending fences and doing odd jobs on neighbouring farms. The finish is long, warm wave of malt and peat, with a return of the sherry smoke. Alongside that, the spice from the taste continues to keep your tongue tingling for a few minutes as well. It has a lovely little nose of fruit, apples and pears, cinnamon, toffee, honey, vanilla, oak, little floral and a very slight cocoa aroma that appears and disappears. The Palate brings warming spices, This is lovely and smooth. Again, green apples, sultanas, some sherry, honey and winter spices. Like a lot of the easily accessible whisky, it’s a lot more presentable on the nose. It’s very coherent and enticing. Once you get in the mouth, though, it’s a mess. The flavors get all bungled up, and a watery texture doesn’t help either. I feel like the finish was the best part because the flavors get their act together in that moment.The taste is silky caramel, with a rich mix of pears and apples juxtaposed with cinnamon and warm oak. Subsequent sips bring out some honey and hints of sherry. More complex than I expected, but not overly so - and it is significantly richer than you would expect from the nose. The Glenlivet 18 year old is a true masters product, well crafted and balanced. Bit low on ABV, but it's ok. Not too watery. And full of flavors: hints of sourness with orange geste, warm apples in the oven, pear and pie. Although all these components are considered to be warm, this whisky gives something fresh -almost like minty (mentol candy)… Hint of milk chocolate, hint of hidden leather. Leafy at the end. Lovely! Professional maltsters soak rich Scottish barley in water for several days, allowing it to germinate. Once the shoots have appeared, the barley is heated and dried, at which point it becomes known as ‘malt’. Balance, Complexity: Good balance of sweet and sour. The apple does seem to dominate on the nose while the lemon seems to dominate in the mouth. However, the two seem to balance out. But complex? Not really. Nose: very light caramel. The word crisp comes to mind; like the smell of a crisp apple and/or pear freshly cut. Fresh air blowing through the woods.

Up to him introducing me to a sample of Nadurra, all of my experiences with Glenlivet had been fairly unexceptional. Great whisky but a bit low on ABV. If this whould have had 48% alcohol I think it would have been more balanced, had would have had more depth. Nevertheless this is a great product :-) Well crafted and clever - a lot too discover within a very narrow range of flavors. At first this might seem a simple whisky, but it's not. Let it open up, let it evolve. Great depth with hints of peach, honey like sweetness, leafy influences, vanilla and a hidden sourness. Lovely! Nose: Quite woody with an earthy sherry overtone. Salty almonds drizzled with cinnamon amid a basket of dark oranges. You can't help but like this nose.

This has been part of my struggle: I very much use my own crazy system. I score a whisky in 5 categories out of 6.5 (being perfect). So the max a whisky can score in my book is 32.5 For me this system works perfectly. I know that anything over 30 is "buy every bottle." 25-30 is buy a new bottle once the last is finished. 20-25 is buy at the right price. Under 20 is don't buy (unless it is a gift). Under 15 is "re-gift." And under 10 is very, very sad.

Our Service is an online platform which provides Members with information (e.g. bottle facts, market-indices, market values and prices) on (mostly) whisky and allows Members to add information to the platform. We do not sell, nor does the Service provide any option to buy, any alcoholic products. In stage two, we distil the low wines in the spirit still. Once cooled, the stillman ‘cuts’ the liquid, separating the heads (the high alcohol liquid that comes out first), the heart (the desirable liquid of appropriate strength and quality) and the tail (the unusable liquid that comes out last). We recycle the heads and tails, the heart goes into the spirit receiver. MATURATIONI almost liked the 12 better. It is "entry level" and maybe expectations are lower. Not having any 12 I once used this to introduce a niece to the world of single malts because of its anaemic ABV. But to an experienced palate I agree it's a little boring. Is the 18 worth the price? No. I can get better and more interesting alternatives, even if they’re younger, in the same price range. At this price point, there are far more intriguing options in the form of limited editions and indie bottlers. This is different from what I remember; I recall tasting more green apples and pears in the 12. Is this really the same whisky as the ones in the green bottle? Or have my senses just changed? Is it both? It’s been a few years since I last tried this whisky after all.