Both Squidgy and myself love Vinesh dearly, but this is one area where I disagree with him on whisky. Squidgy and myself have been able to enjoy this whisky multiple times now due in large part to Vinesh and Laura Hay, and a huge thank you goes out to the both of them. The finish lasts forever, with the fruit, peaches, pears and spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, lasting forever, lingering on and on before finally vanishing with just the slightest wisp of spice. So what did I experience? Its very smooth and rich in flavor with a hint of spice and not earthy and at the end. The @43% ABV is good for my palate, you don't sacrifice the smooth flow and flavors that higher ABV would overpower. Othmar and I stared at one another in amazement, the nose was lovely, the palate to die for, unfreaking believable!

The other two guys just stared at us in confusion, not quite getting why Othmar and I were so excited. Throughout the Great Depression, The Glenlivet stayed open. In fact, the only period during which the distillery shut down was during World War II, by government decree, after which it played a key role in pulling Britain out of its postwar debt by exporting whisky to the United States. The American market had exploded during the new century, and the high demand even led to the British government maintaining bread rations for some time so that distillers could utilize the limited grain resources for whisky production. It's just an incident of me receiving a sample, what are the tasting notes and what I think of the whisky. Half an hour, 45 minutes later Othmar, myself and a couple of guys that Othmar knew swung by the Glenlivet stand, glencairns in hand.

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These things were the events surrounding the tasting of tasting of the whisky, who I was with, what was happening and even more important, what that wound up meaning to me in regards to the whisky.

I originally got my start writing about whisky talking about the important things. These things were not just tasting notes, or the history of the distillery or the history of the barrel. The nose is extremely promising coming at you with an almost bourbon like quality. Strong citrus layered in dark honey, boiled sweets and butterscotch with some Quality Street chocolates. But then a disconcerting whiff of fresh linen which can only lead me to believe the presence of sulphur. It's not terribly off-putting but it certainly does not belong there. When he'd returned he invited Squidgy and myself to his house for whiskies and cigars and a surprise. Once we arrived he grinned at me, a huge Cuban cigar in his mouth, and held up the Glenlivet 25 year old box. For both Othmar and myself it was easily the whisky of the show. Mindblowing, special, epic, words wouldn't do that whisky or even the moment in time justice. For a year now I've been getting whisky samples from distilleries and importers and this is great, there's no denying it. I get the chance to try all sorts of really cool whiskies that I normally wouldn't, but what has happened as a result of receiving all of these cool samples is that there oftentimes isn't a cool story behind me tasting it.My very good Connosr buddy, Othmar, who many may know as Systemdown, lives in Brisbane, so I talked to the guys and asked if they'd mind if I went to Brisbane. Because of this I've found that I'm writing less and that when I write I don't take as much pleasure in it as I used to. When the original Drumin distillery burned down in 1858, most of its salvageable parts (along with the now-shuttered Cairngorn-Delnabo’s) were folded into this replacement distillery. It opened in 1859 and has remained in operation since (with one period of notable exception, touched on later.) I'd just had a nip of the Glenlivet 18 year old, when Laura Hay called me over. She told me that she'd been informed that I was a serious whisky lover, a hardcore whisky lover and if I came through a little bit later when it had quieted down a wee bit she might have a special surprise for me. Glenlivet made a different style of whisky to that which was current in the region, producing a lighter fruitier new make, something that has continued to this day. The whisky was such a success that he built another distillery in 1850 at Delnabo which never really functioned properly due to problems with the water supply. There were further problems when the original distillery burned down in 1858, something of a perennial problem in the whisky business. In 1859, he opened a new distillery near Ballindalloch where it remains to this day.