Taste: The Glenlivet 18 year old

After my foray earlier this year to the Speyside whisky festival and then further north into Scotland, I have quite a few tasting notes and distillery visits to write up. These have been waiting patiently - time to get started with this taste review of The Glenlivet 18 year old.

This is often referred to as a very approachable, solid and inoffensive 18 year old expression, which is fantastically priced. I dunno about you, but I would like to live a little more dangerously at times. Some of the great 18 year olds may have slipped a little in recent years yet remain ahead of the pack. Yep, I'm thinking Yamazaki, Highland Park and Glengoyne to highlight but a trio. So how does this offering from the huge Glenlivet distillery stack up?

Distillery: Glenlivet
Age: 18 year old
Strength: 43%
Price: around £50

Colour: Toffee

Aroma: peaches, oranges, bananas with a mix of oak and raisins that will come from a sherry influence.

Taste: Well, more orange followed by a lovely treacle tart sugar note, hazelnuts, before descending into coffee of all things.

Maybe its just me but of all the Glenlivet's I've experienced to date, I've yet to experience any love for the distillery output. It is a huge behemoth to visit and because of this the prices are kept down. This may explain part of its appeal and that the malts are generally inoffensive often inspiring expressions such as 'smooth' or 'well rounded' that can translate into lacking character. There are better 18 year olds out there so go discover them.