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Day 6 - KWM 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar - Boutique-Y Speyside #4 24-Year-Old KWM Cask

Posted on December 11, 2024

Day Six — That Boutique-Y Speyside #4 24-Year-Old KWM Cask

By Evan

One distillery that has perhaps been underutilized over the decade plus of KWM Whisky Calendars is Glenlivet. It may not seem like it based on the information the bottle gives us, but today we are addressing that issue.

Our second KWM exclusive cask from That Boutique-y Whisky Company is an undisclosed Speyside Single Malt Cask, likely saved from being blended into oblivion in a bottling of Chivas Royal Salute. It is 24 years old, and just 220 (500ml) bottles were filled at a strength of 47.8% exclusively for your not-so-humble whisky friends here at KWM. Boutique-y isn't supposed to tell you this is Glenlivet… but we know you are going to Glen-Love-it!

As for the whisky, it is lush, tropical, and floral… dangerously easy drinking… and 35% cheaper than The Glenlivet Archive 21 Year OB at 43%!

Our first Boutique-y KWM bottle was from an undisclosed Highland Distillery that we know for certain is Clynelish.

We aren’t told where this Speyside Single Malt hails from, but That Boutique-y Whisky Company has done what they do best — beyond bottling great whisky, that is — and offered up a few hints. Here is the first one:

“There are 46 Speyside distilleries so are you feeling lucky? Punk? Oops wrong movie reference. Seriously though, we really can’t tell you where this comes from, or indeed give you too many clues… But don’t let that stop you from discovering this spectacular Speysider - we bet you’ll glen-love-it!”

Just in case that sounds like a red herring, here is the second hint:

“Our label is a riff on ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’ where a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins - a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer H.A.L. 9000.

Our spacecraft is this very modern (with the joint largest capacity) secret Speyside distillery, that can be run by just two men, and a computer.”

Based on that, it has to be Glenlivet or Glenfiddich, right? And Glenfiddich single malt is never independently bottled as far as we can tell - only casks of Blended Malt that have been teaspooned with Balvenie or Kininvie are sold or traded off… Hmm…

So, there you have it. Let’s talk about the Glenlivet Distillery before we dive into this bottle.

Glenlivet Distillery was officially founded two centuries ago in 1824, though it operated before that in a much less legally recognized manner, like many illicit distilleries at the time. Following the spirits act of 1823, Glenlivet was one of the first Speyside distilleries to go the legal route. The decision for this was made by then owner George Smith, and it was met with full-on hostility by many of his illicit still running neighbours in the region. They apparently threatened to burn his now-legal operation down and also led George to carry not just one, but two flintlock pistols on his person at all times for protection. You know – just in case.

(Glenlivet Distillery. Photo from Glenlivet's Facebook Page)

The Glenlivet Distillery resides near Ballindalloch in Moray, within Speyside. Some of its nearest neighbouring distilleries include:

  • Tamnavulin which is less than a 10-minute drive south. 
  • Tomintoul takes just a slight bit longer to drive to in a southwesterly direction.
  • Tormore Distillery resides less than a 15-minute drive to the north and west.

This is near the heart of Speyside though, so there are many, many more distilleries about a good stones-throw beyond that.

Fun side-fact on Tamnavulin: the current Distillery Manager there is one Leon Webb. Before moving back to Scotland and working at Tamnavulin, Leon spent a little over four years working at Shelter Point Distillery. Prior to that, he worked for a year at Victoria Distillers and was responsible for the creation of Victoria Empress Gin. Not only does this man make good whisky, he also created the blue gin craze!

Back to Glenlivet: The distillery is massive. As the blurb from That Boutique-y Whisky Company above-mentioned, it is currently locked in a tie as the largest single malt distillery in Scotland by production. It is capable of producing 21 million litres of spirit annually, which is matched only by Glenfiddich Distillery. Glenfiddich is also Glenlivet’s competitor in the best-selling Single Malt Scotch category. The two distilleries are the only to sell well more than 15 million bottles of their Single Malt Scotch annually.

Third place for best-selling Single Malt Scotch world-wide is Macallan. Not bad for a whisky-making factory that positions itself as a difficult to afford luxury brand, eh?

Stylistically, Glenlivet produces an unpeated, approachable and orchard fruit-note driven Single Malt that is precisely what people expect when they think of Speyside whisky. Glenlivet is so incredibly synonymous with this style and quality that for years other nearby and not-so-nearby Speyside distilleries would add the term -Glenlivet to their whisky, riding on Glenlivet’s own well-earned success. A partial solution to this issue of copy-catting created in 1884 with the addition of THE to the Glenlivet name, to show that it was the one and only – THE GLENLIVET. The distillery owner at that time – John Gordon Smith – was given the sole rights to use this term on bottles of the whisky his distillery made. Glenlivet Distillery is part of Chivas Brothers, which is owned by the Pernod Ricard. The French company is the 2nd largest spirits producer in the world behind Diageo. 

Indie bottlings of Glenlivet are almost never seen. There may be indie Glenlivet out there, but it would nearly always be bottles as a mystery malt. Glenlivet holds on to its name with a tight fist, likely due to the aforementioned past grievances. It does not like it when other companies use the name themselves.

So, how Glenlivet-ty will this mystery malt be? Let's try it out!

Boutique-y Speyside #4 24 Year KWM Cask – 47.8%

Evan's Tasting Note:

Nose: Apples, pears, and peaches - all sliced and mixed together with a dollop of whipped cream on top, along with vanilla-driven oak, well-weathered two-by-fours, waxy wine gums, angel food cake and a hint of dunnage.

Palate: More apples and pears, pineapple juice, sunflower seeds, Hershey's Cookies 'n' Cream candy bars, tapioca pudding, and a touch of creamy mushroom soup with saltine crackers crushed and mixed in.

Finish: Creamy, sweet and smooth with lingering notes of apple and pear slices and drying wood spice.

Comment: In a world full of younger whiskies screaming attention by clothing themselves in sherry cask influence and/or heavy smoke and peat, this is a breath of fresh air. It is just a comfortably naked and very well-put-together Speyside whisky with a good amount of maturity and a reasonable price despite it.

Andrew's Tasting Note

Nose: creamy, waxy, and honeyed with floral top notes; French butter, creamed honey, marshmallow, and lemon oil; the fruits are predominantly in the citrus and stone fruit realm, but they are on the verge of going tropical; white chocolate, clotted cream, and Chantilly cream.

Palate: so buttery, fruity, and soft; this is right up in my wheelhouse, old, oxidized, and only gently kissed by the oak; more white chocolate, marshmallow, and Chantilly cream; baked apple, poached pears, honeydew melon, and dried apricot, with a little hint of kiwi peeking out; honey butter along with more of the French sort, from cows grazing in high alpine meadows; fresh virgin olive oil (Catalan), soaked up with white bread dipped in kosher salt.

Finish: long, warming, fruity, and floral with tingling decadent spice.

Comment: at the time we selected the cask I remember thinking it was a decent buy; good, mature whisky, at a very fair price; it is way better than I remembered, and frankly a steal; light, fresh, fruity, and oily, with just enough sweetness and spice; crushable & complex. 

Well, this was one of the lightest whiskies we have tasted in our journey so far. Luckily, that lightness still packed plenty in the way of nuance and complexity. Could we possibly have another light dram lined up for tomorrow?

Knowing us? Probably not.

See you soon for Day Seven!

Cheers,
Evan

Playing catch-up on our 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar?

You can find the rest of the blog posts here!

 

This entry was posted in Whisky, Tastings, Whisky Calendars, Distillery, Independent Bottler, Tastings - Online Tasting, KWM Single Cask, KWM 2024 Not An Advent Calendar Tastings

 

 

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