Scotland, Speyside. Distillery operational. Owners: Chivas Brothers Ltd, Pernod Ricard

Chivas Brothers' flagship malt, The Glenlivet was widely introduced to the international scene and became one of the world's most popular Scottish malts in the early 1950s. Its owners completed something of a Herculean task, releasing Glenlivet in a number of different age expressions in the 1960s, including a 12, 15, 18 and 21 year old. Then, in the 1970s, it released superb vintage versions distilled 1959 and 1961, alongside the famous 12 year old, before beginning the new millennium with an outstanding range in the style of the day, The Glenlivet Cellar Collection. In terms of independent bottlings, it was under the colourful label “Glenlivet Whisky, George & JG Smith”, which paid tribute to the distillery's founder (also a colourful figure in the whisky industry in the 19th century), that bottlers released the malt, including Gordon & MacPhail who once again stood out with remarkable editions heavily influenced by sherry.

This single malt distilled at the little-known Speyside distillery of Balmenach-Glenlivet was matured for 14 years in sherry casks and bottled at 57.5% ABV in the 1980s by Italian independent bottler Sestante.
Its red colour presages its incredible aromatic complexity, which reveals notes of coffee, dark chocolate and dried fruit, pepped up by a hint of ginger and bitter orange. The powerful but very elegant palate combines aromas of fruit jam with sherry, all underpinned by a peppery note. A hint of salt provides the final notes on this outstanding and perfectly balanced whisky.