Glenlivet Nàdurra Peated Whisky Cask Finish

Thanks to /u/kinohead for this sample.

A long time ago I had this crazy idea: No, not to post a mystery advent calendar two months late. It’s Day #23, by the way.

No, I wanted to review all of the different Glenlivet Nàdurra in one go. And then they came out super slowly. Also, there hasn’t been a port cask, either out of spite towards myself or because it just doesn’t work with Glenlivet.

I personally lean towards spite, because I have a Martyr complex.

What does that have to do with my mystery review? Why today is Glenlivet Nàdurra Peated Whisky Cask Finish, of course. This time the cask strength Glenlivet’s been thrown into an ex-peated cask after being in first-fill ex-bourbon casks.

But people drink Glenlivet because they want a soft walk through the park. What will it do when peat and 60% alcohol gets involved?

And will I guess it blind?

Join in dram-fans, all will be revealed through the power of reading!

Price: $88.65 CAD at the LCBO

Region: Speyside

Batch: PW0715

Bottled: 30.07.2015

Cask Type: First-fill ex-bourbon casks then finished in heavily peated whisky casks

Abv: 61.5%

Colour: 7.5Y 9/8

Nose: Brine, smoke, lemon, plantains, pear, mint

Wow. Initial brine and smoke makes me lean towards either Laphroaig or Ledaig. The funk from the plantains, the extra spritiness when water is added kinda doubles down on that.

Lovely smoke on the nose.

Taste: Smoked apple, peat, graham cracker, plantains

Oh. I’m a sucker for the smoked apple flavour. That should have given me a hint here. There’s more peat here, more funk.

I’m liking this version of Glenlivet. Can we start passing around the hat to make all the finished casks peated?

Finish: Brine, lemon cheesecake, graham cracker, nori, blondie, roast chestnuts, basil

Favourite part, really love the buttery/brine aspects. If the rest is slowly building to something, this is that something. Sweet, briny/umami, nutty, and a good blend of the roasted aspects with the sweet.

And yes I realize most cheesecake has a graham cracker crust, so it was redundant, but it switched part way through a back and forth so I added in the redundancy.

Conclusion: Cracking dram that balances great flavours. Amazing finish. It’s like Glenlivet made a whisky for Ledaig or Laphroaig fans. Which given how crazy those mofos are, I don’t blame them.

Did I guess this? Of course not. It’s so close to a Ledaig, although slightly cleaner and sweeter and (dare I say it) balanced to the hilt version. I really did like this. It’s bombastic in the right way. It cements what I kinda already knew: I like Glenlivet at Cask Strength, dammit, and I like First-Fill Bourbon influence, and I like peat.

If that sums you up, then this is a no brainer. If not… there are other options out there, don’t you worry kiddo.

86/100

Guess: Ledaig, Ex-bourbon, 11-14 years, 54%

Actually: Glenlivet Nadurra Peated

Scotch review #1080, Speyside review #300, Whisky review #1681