The Glenlivet is calling on its “Guardians” (i.e. members of its online club thing) to help create a new release by asking them to select its next limited edition, The Glenlivet Guardians’ Chapter. Read on for the rest of the PR and my review…
Three ‘exciting’ new single malt whiskies have been created by Master Distiller Alan Winchester from the distillery’s cask collection and classified by their taste (read: no age statement) – CLASSIC, fruity with soft sweet caramel and toffee notes, EXOTIC rich with warm spicy notes and REVIVAL, fruity with a creamy sweetness.

There’s been lots of tastings all around the world of the three of the drams, and everyone is asked to vote for their winner… You can do that yourself here: http://uk.theglenlivet.com/guardians/chapter-hub
(although I had to try three times, dodgy pages it seems)

My reviews of the three are as follows…

Glenlivet Classic – 48.7% NCF

Colour: Full gold with darker tones.
Nose: Malty and rich, but almost a touch of vinegar at first before more autumn fruits start to appear with vanilla toffee notes. Not the usual light summer apples that maybe you’d expect.
Palate: Fairly thick mouthfeel, a little hot with some spiciness. Fairly sweet, and maybe slightly young, not completely a relaxed malt.
Finish: Hot, spicy, sweet with late oak and fruits coming though. Not an overly long finish.
Thoughts: Ok, it’s a start, but not entirely what I was expecting. It’s not too bad, but doesn’t quite hit the mark for me. Some time and a drop of water improves it. 78.

Glenlivet Exotic – 48.7% NCF

Colour: Full golden with a bit of dark rust thrown in.
Nose: Possibly not a standard Glenlivet nose, but either way it’s a lovely sherry sweet dram. Malt and maybe a drop of salt. However a spirity edge, although maybe partly due to the fairly high ABV.
Palate: Fairly thick, reasonably smooth and sweet… less spice than Classic, which works for me. Malt, some saltiness as found on the nose, and less autumn fruits than you’d maybe imagine there would be by the smell, however it’s nice although moments of hotness.
Finish: A little more flavour on the warming finish than on the palate. Fairly long, with small amounts of oak and a little bitterness.
Thoughts: A bit more like it, but I do wonder if it’s a little young. In mind (and this is just me) I tend to associate “exotic” with bourbon (i.e summery citrus), I’m not entirely sure I’d class this as exotic. 82. It’s a reasonable dram, but I wouldn’t buy a bottle.

Glenlivet Revival – 48.7% NCF

Colour: Light yellow.
Nose: A more interesting nose than the other two. Malty, summery with some apples and pears, a little more what you’d recognise from a Glenlivet.
Palate: Slightly sweet with yellow apples (yes there are such things!), pears and barley. Caramel/toffee.
Finish: Warm to hot and fairly long. Sweet enough.
Thoughts: A drop of water releases more caramel and malt notes. Not quite the finished article, but it’s pretty good and more what I’d kind of expect from a Glenlivet. It’s the best of the three in my opinion.

Overall Thoughts

An interesting voyage into Glenlivet’s NAS journey… it’s a journey with some way yet to go. Sometimes NAS whiskies contain older whiskies to balance them up, but there doesn’t appear to be much older malt here. I often pick sherry based whiskies at the moment, but today Revival gets my vote, it’s the one out of the three that I’d happily sit and drink.

Thanks to Glenlivet for the samples.