This 32 years old Glenlivet must have been a small hogshead (just 96 bottles) or maybe just part of the cask?
In my personal opinion, The Glenlivet shows a constant high quality (with best-sellers like the Nadurra) without having many truly spectacular expressions. The brand pops up regularly when people are looking for an interesting yet budget-friendly single malt whisky.
Glenlivet 32 yo 1977 (44,8%, Whisky-Doris 2010, bourbon hogshead #13129, 96 btl.)
Nose: ah, a lovely fruit basket, just what we were hoping for! It starts on “local” fruits: peaches, juicy pears, gooseberries, oranges… then growing more tropical with green banana and a little passion fruit. Nice sweet / sour combo. Also some waxy and grassy notes in the background. Quite excellent.
Mouth: very fruity (apple, citrus) and oily with a faint bitter edge (lime zest, woody notes). Also an unexpected hint of peat. Even… mustard. Nice evolution, fruity and fresh but not sweet at all.
Finish: now turning to spices (pepper, clove) and zesty citrus.
A multi-dimensional Glenlivet, showing both expected elements (fruit basket) and a few nice surprises (peat and enjoyable mustard notes). Still available from Whisky-Doris in Germany – € 110.
Score: 89/100