Glenlivet 11 Year (2007), Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Barrel
Whisky: Glenlivet 11 Year (2007), Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Barrel
Country/Region: Scotland/Speyside
ABV: 66%
Cask: First Fill Sherry Hogshead
Age: 11 Year (Distilled 27 Mar. 2007, Bottled 20 Feb. 2019)
Nose: Dry baking spices— cinnamon and cloves, leather, cassis and jammy fruits, rosewood incense, lacquered wood, hints of cola, and sarsaparilla.
Palate: Thick, syrupy, and dry with sweet cinnamon, Red Hot candies, licorice, stewed plums, cassis jam, and lacquered wood. With water, less syrupy but more vibrant with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, opening to sarsaparilla and ginger soda, licorice candies with hints of chocolate and leather.
Finish: Long and lingering with cinnamon and cola candies.
Score: 6
Mental Image: Sinning with Cinnamon
Narrative & Notes: The aroma greeted me with a warm spicy hug that gradually revealed cinnamon and cloves amongst jammy fruits and cassis. Rosewood incense and lacquered wood gave a somber air to the dram and brought quiet meditation and weathered cedar temple pillars to mind. Around the edges were teases of lime, cola, and sarsaparilla— a bubbly soda of some sort. The palate was syrupy and sweet with a cinnamon intensity that only slowly revealed licorice and stewed raspberry with cassis (and more cinnamon. Hints of leather and lacquered wood appeared toward the end as the dram took a drying turn. A few drops of water thinned the syrupy mouthfeel but opened a more vibrant spice of cloves, nutmeg, and ginger. The tingling mouthfeel gave the dram an almost effervescent quality, while the finish was quite long as cinnamon candies and cola slowly faded.
I did not expect this dram to be up my ally at all— it seemed like a big dumb sherry bomb, a dram without much beyond the influence of the cask. A malt bludgeoned with the hammer of the sherry Gods. I have not changed my mind, but I enjoyed the combination of sweet spices present on this dram. It has been a while since I had something with quite such an effervescent quality.
Overall, a delicious dram that drank remarkably easily considering its high abv. I thought a few drops of water improved the flavor profile, though it was not entirely necessary.
Image Credit: The Whisky Barrel
