Like most other whisky festivals Whisky Live 2020 in Paris had to take a different route this year, combining small sessions at the La Maison du Whisky locations with a series of online tastings based on sample packs. In the Nouveautés selection we found this Glenlivet 2007 bottled by Signatory Vintage as a festival bottling.
We’ve had a couple of sister casks in the #900xxx region and most of these were rather impressive sherry bombs.
Glenlivet 13 yo 2007 (66%, Signatory Vintage for Whisky Live 2020, first-fill sherry hogshead #900194, 320 btl.)
Nose: modern sherry oak influence, as expected, but compared to the sister casks this seems relatively balanced. Berry fruits, plums, orange liqueur, ginger. Gingerbread, salted caramel and walnuts. Also pencil shavings, exotic wood and a hint of damp, dusty cellar – I like that. Big and powerful, also very clean.
Mouth: very hot, all pepper, but a few drops of water are enough to make it accessible and bring out jammy plums, blackberries, orangettes and sticky toffee pudding. Also liquorice and walnuts (of course), dark chocolate and aromatic herbal touches. Hints of sandalwood and oak char in the end.
Finish: very long and racy, with more ginger and peppery oak, alongside dark fruits and coffee liqueur.
In line with our expectations: a modern sherry bomb. High strength, deeply charred but also rather clean and fruity sherry. Already announced, available soon, keep an eye on whisky.fr