The Glenlivet Nàdurra 16yo

19 September 2018

Does this one need any introduction? It’s easily my top core-range Glenlivet.

Bottled at cask strength, non-chill filtered and matured in American oak, which makes your taste buds explode with honest, natural flavours.

I think I don’t need to tell you that it’s been discontinued, that happened about 3 years ago and has been replaced by a new range of NAS bottles: First fill American oak, Oloroso and peated casks. Which aren’t all that bad, but they don’t come close to the 16yo.

Luckily I still have half a bottle and I was very happy when I found another one in a whisky shop quite recently. So I’m able to continue enjoying these fine flavours for a while:

Tasting notes

Nose

Leather, soil, banana, cooked apples, pears, honey and a bit musty, like cork and cedar wood.

Palate

Dry ‘sauna-wood’ and cooking fruits, mainly apples, hint of vanilla, honey and maybe a slight hint that resembled raisins. A tingles on your tongue, it’s drying out your tongue a bit, but it’s not harsh, it definitely helps developing an arrange of flavours.

Finish

Very dry, a musty cigar box, honey, leather and dried apples, cooked ham and a minuscule hint of smoke.

It’s strong, it’s dry and it definitely shakes up your taste buds, which isn’t appreciated by every whisky drinker. But if you like such a style, please go check it out, good chance you’ll find a lost bottle in a liquor store or somewhere online for a reasonable price.

And if you weren’t able to find one, you can always check out some indie bottlers like Signatory, who often sells casks strength Speysiders that have the same kind of vibrant, tingling and even musty sensation. This Deanston for example comes close, although this one also contains some sherry notes.