The Whisky Exchange already bottle a Glenlivet 1981 cask #9460 in 2014, selected from the Signatory Vintage warehouses. This year they’re releasing sister cask #9464. Lots of other casks from the same batch have been bottled in the past three years or so.
Glenlivet 33 yo 1981 (51%, Signatory Vintage for TWE 2015, refill sherry hogshead #9464, 175 btl.)
Nose: a very nice profile with lots of juicy oak, library dust and moist tobacco. Big hints of leather saddles. Also walnuts and a rather elegant hint of sherry, closer to very old Amontillado than to Oloroso. Then there are rich fruity notes like dried apricots and sour cherries. Subtle herbal teas, with some bergamot and oh-so-light potpourri in the background. Mint and subtle camphor too.
Mouth: a lot of old-style oranges and blackberries, with some grape-like touches before becoming drier, spicy and slightly tannic. Cloves, pepper and mint. The apricots return, as well as the walnuts and leather. Hints of pink grapefruit. Surely it’s oaky but luckily the sweetness and fruitiness balances it out.
Finish: long, peppery, with herbal teas and bitter oranges.
This is an interesting dram. It’s a refill cask with a rather refined sherry influence. On the other hand it’s also rather oaky, making it a rather active refill cask. In any case it’s a very tasty, old whisky. Around € 260 – soon available from The Whisky Exchange.
Score: 91/100