The legendary Glenlivet Distillery in Speyside is situated about two mil north of Tomintoul at the river Livet. The distillery was founded by George Smith in 1824. The production, however, had been going on for many years, in illegal form. In 1823 the government introduced laws and regulations on whisky production, and lowered the license fees. This meant that many of the small, illegal distilleries in Scotland also could afford to buy a license (how nice of the government, eh?)

One of the first who got such a license was George Smith, a well-educated farmer. His application for a license was seen as a betrayal by his closest distilling neighbors. It even went so far that the neighbors threatened to kill him and said that they would burn down his distillery with him inside. But that didn't stop Smith. He received his license and made sure to always be armed with two pistols.

In the early 1800s there were around 200 illegal distilleries in the area where Glenlivet were situated. The state cleared these away rapidly, and by 1834 only Glenlivet was left. The production increased in pace with demand and more than 2,000 liters of alcohol a week was produced (today they produce around 10 million liters). The distillery was moved to the farm Minmore in 1858 and a collaboration with Andrew P. Usher began. Andrew was a whisky trader and made sure that The Glenlivet began to be exported abroad. The demand for the whisky grew, and they had difficulties keeping up. In the early 1900s, two more stills were purchased to meet the increasing demand, and in 1921 Bill Smith Grant inherited the company and ran it for over 50 years until Glenlivet was acquired by Seagram, that today is owned by Pernod Ricard.

Glenlivet 18

When I started to fall in love with whisky, the sweet and seducing Glenlivet 18 quickly became one of my favorite malts. Let's do a serious tasting of it, and see how it holds up today.

ABV: 43%
Age: 18 yo
Region: Speyside
Price: Around 65-75 USD for 70cl
Matured on a mixture of American ex-bourbon and European ex-sherry casks.
Unfortunately both colored and chill-filtered (unlike the lovely and all natural cask-strength Glenlivet Nàdurra)

Nose: The first scent that caresses my nose and fills the room is apples. Only by opening the bottle the room is filled with the aroma. The scent and taste of apples usually signals a young whisky, and the apple aroma is then of green apples. Here we're rather talking about ripe, almost over-ripe, red apples. Somewhat similar to walking down a root cellar where you've stored this year's harvest. Rottening apples turns into dried hay and honey.

Palate: Candied apples.... or rather apple cake with vanilla custard!! There's also some tree-resin lingering. Apples turns into sweet orange, and some oakiness asserts itself. The honey is there on the palette as well. Simply yummy.

Finish: The long finish with silky and mineral tannins tie it all together in an exemplary manner. Seville orange and a slight nuttiness is accompanied by burnt sugar.

Conclusion: This sweet, smooth and undemanding, yet complex single malt works superbly as an everyday whisky, thanks to its relatively low price, while at the same time offering aroma's and flavor's characteristic of a more expensive whisky. Everyday luxury for both the novice and the aficionado. The score lands on 89 points.

To finish, a photo of the cathedral-like still room with the beautiful copper pot stills:

Sources:
www.theglenlivet.com
www.visitscotland.com
www.visitscotland.com
www.bespoke-scotland.com