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| The Glenlivet 15 years French Oak Reserve Single Malt Scotch |
The Glenlivet 15 years French Oak Reserve is one of those single malts that doesn't have all the media buzz and praise that critics heap on other malts like The Macallan 12 years. I guess the consensus among critics is that The Glenlivet 15 is not all that special.
I receive usually five to ten emails a week from readers and often they ask what my opinion of one malt or another is. Invariably, The Glenlivet 15 is raised by more than a few readers. So, naturally I thought I should investigate.
Nose
Very fruity and floral. Roses, cherries and dark berries. Not the most incredible of aromas to rise out of my glass, but that's ok because the price was not the most incredible either.
Palate
Cherry, rich dark plums and of course oak. Creamy. An exotic oak, but not too exotic such that it is weird. All pleasing flavors here. Soft, enjoyable, very drinkable texture. Nice firm mouthfeel to this one.
Finish
Vanilla, more oak and drying a bit. Not super long, but not bad either.
General Impressions
Most, if not all, tasting notes on this single malt have understandably emphasized the oak. The oak is good. But, I taste some sherry, not a great deal, but a little and wanted to know if I was crazy. So, I dropped an email to The Glenlivet and they promptly responded (for which I thank them) and advised that their Master Blender, Sandy Hyslop, does age a very small amount of this spirit in sherry butts of each vatting.
This is not the greatest of single malts, but at the price point, it certainly does deliver. Smooth and drinkable. This malt is widely available, but don't think that because it is so common it can't be good. It is good. Very pleasing. Meets all the benchmarks of what goes into a nice malt. Quite quaffable. Makes a nice gift for the scotch enthusiasist who doesn't want to be overwhelmed with a strong array of flavors. No bite, bitter or offensive flavors will be found in this malt.
Give it a chance, you won't be disappointed by this, reasonably priced, middle of the road malt.
Cheers!
Jason Debly
Copyright © Jason Debly, 2009-2011. All rights reserved. Any and all use is prohibited without permission.
Posts
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteIs it just me, or did this blog post get shorter over night? :-)
Anyway, I guess I just have a comment on the Glenlivet 15 then...I totally agree with you that this is a great value, and there are definitely some flavor notes that are common with other sherried whiskies (perhaps more in line with the double-matured expressions).
My first purchase of this was as a gift for my Uncle-in-law. He's not a whisky drinker...he's a brandy guy. But he very much enjoyed this one. It's VERY accessible.
I later purchased a bottle for myself. After reading this, I need to pull it out of the back of my cabinet and reacquaint myself. :-)
Cheers,
Jeff
Jason, another great review. I find the nose on this scotch just delightful, probably cause of bouquet. I agree it's not incredible but good, but in BC... at it's current price point it's something to add to the stable ($63.99 from $69). How do you think it compares to the Glenfiddich 15 Solera reserve?
ReplyDeleteThank you and keep up the great work!
Hi Jeff, yeah, I did delete part of my original post. It was just too negative. For those of you who did not see it, it was basically about some rude comments made in a Whisky Magazine issue about scotch bloggers. In hindsight, I figure people dont want to read that. People visit my site looking for reviews and thoughts on scotch. So, I refocused and deleted the non-relevant portion.
ReplyDeleteJeff, I think it wouldnt hurt for you to revisit this bottle and maybe review it yourself (other readers please check out Jeff's site: Scotch Hobbyist).
. . .
Hi Chris! I think Glenfiddich 15yrs is definitely superior. Glad you like this site. Thanks for commenting!
Jason
Thanks for the plug, Jason. Your check is in the mail. Ha ha!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely going to spend some time with the French Oak again. In fact...I have a bottle of the Glenfiddich 15 yr as well, but I've never done a head-to-head with them (although, I know they're different animals). That should be interesting.
I recall the 15 is very oaky (not my thing).
ReplyDeleteIs lot smoother then 12 just the oak is pretty dominate over the foral for sure. This was like ten years ago. not modern bottles.