Glenlivet 16 Year Old Nadurra

This has been on my to-do list for a while. I’ve recently rediscovered my bottle of ‘livet 18 that’s been sitting relatively untouched at the back of my cabinet for the better part of a year. It’s a lovely dram, and it’s reminded me that Glenlivet is indeed capable of making some fine whisky. Here we’ve got the 16 year old cask strength Nadurra.

Nose: Strong apples, vanilla, cereal, honey. Behind there are some floral notes, lemon, and pears. Fresh and very farmy. Reminiscent of a warm summer breeze over a field of wheat. Intense and enjoyable.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel. Apples, pears, lemon, honey, grass, vanilla and pancakes. There’s that strong cereal/grainy note again. It integrates beautifully with the honey and vanilla. This is very much a follow-through from the nose.

Finish: The honey, vanilla and cereal dominate, and they linger throughout the medium-long finish. A bit of oak here, too. There is also some nutmeg, ginger, and pepper, but the spices are gently presented and very well integrated. This is undoubtedly the best finish I’ve tasted from a Glenlivet whisky before.

I think this is lovely stuff. It’s not groundbreaking in the flavour department, but there’s a definite charm and character to this dram. The cereal/grain/honey/oak notes truly reminds of a lazy afternoon on a farm in late summer. No, it’s not particularly complex or challenging, but it is both strong and inviting. It’s also remarkably steady. Generally speaking; what you smell on the nose is delivered on the palate and is left lingering at the finish. Such consistency of flavour is rare, and a lesser whisky would not pull it off. But the Nadurra’s intrinsic quality and strong abv give us a bit more character and punch than I’ve come to expect from Glenlivet. Definitely recommended.

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