Glenlivet 21 Archive

Thanks to /u/devoz for the sample.

At my wedding, we made sure there was an open bar, plenty to drink, and a nice selection of different beers, wines, and alcohol.

That didn’t stop our MC from bringing his plus 1. Which would normally have nothing to do with the alcohol unless she was a drunk. No, you see, he was a bottle of Glenlivet 21 Archive, which sat at the plus ones table, in it’s wooden box.

No, he isn’t a person who is in love with inanimate objects and ends up taking the last name of the CN Tower. Which I think is Tower, or National. Haven’t thought it through. Perhaps I shouldn’t marry a tower.

Glenlivet 21 Archive has won multiple awards. The whisky is aged in a mixture of ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks. Note that this is a minimum age of 21 years. And some of it is matured up to 40 years.

So let’s see how this tastes, shall we?

Price: $265.95 CAD at the LCBO

Region: Speyside

Abv: 43%

Colour: 7.5YR 7/10

Nose: Peach jam, cinnamon, tea, scones

Light fruit and spice on the nose. Some tannins to balance it out.

Really smells like sitting down for afternoon tea. Except without the old person smell that comes along when one usually is around people who still have enough money to have afternoon tea. Granted it’s coming back into fashion, so perhaps that won’t be the case for long.

Oh, and the whisky smells nice.

Taste: Lots of peach tea, caramel, gingersnaps, orange blossom

Lots and lots of fruit and tannins at first. Smooth, good amount of complexity. Some floral parts, some gingersnaps, and some sweetness to balance it out.

Finish: Red apple, tannic, fennel, heather, parsley

Lots of fruit and more tannins. It’s less peach and now more of a subtle apple at the end. No more sweets which is interesting. If you’re not a big sweets fan, this will balance it out.

There’s some interesting grassy notes that add an extra level of complexity here.

Conclusion: A subtle dram that keeps evolving as time goes on. No, this isn’t the huge strength of the Nadurra, which I think I prefer. However it’s subtle, complex in interesting ways, and probably one of the better Glenlivets out there.

If you are into subtle drams, or not into the huge amount of sweets, then it’s a sure whisky to have. I can see why it showed up to my wedding.

81/100

Scotch review #780, Speyside review #221, Whisky Network review #1283