Glenlivet 15 French Oak Reserve, b.2006, 40% abv.

An interesting thing about Glenlivet is that it is usually a top 3 single malt producer by volume, the other 2 spots belonging to Glenfiddich and a musical chair to the pack. What makes it interesting to me is that, I travel a good amount and hit 3 star Michelins as well as food trucks, but I don't see restaurants or bars selling much Glenlivet. Makes me wonder. Back to the bottle. The 15 French oak is supposedly the Glenlivet 12 juice, which is matured in second, third, or fourth fill bourbon casks, with an additional finishing in new French Limousin casks for 3 years. French Limousin casks are the ones used in cognac production.

Nose: light, diluted raisin juice, old dirt, used eraser filings, ginger without the honey or sweet aspects, notes fade away quite fast. Reminds me of an old high school classroom.

Palate: mostly oak, wood all over, young tofu, hints of peanuts. Surprisingly, honey and bread  flavors comes out after a few sips, along with ginger mouthfeel. Unfortunately, nothing special.

Finish: short, alcohol spice.

I was a little concerned once I saw the french oak label, but it wasn't as strong as I thought it would be. The flavor is there, although perhaps in an umbalanced way. The nose is atypical, and the flavor isn't too memorable, mostly wood aspects. I thought I would taste old steamed lotus leaves, but I didn't... instead the flavors turned to sweet honey near the end. I don't know what flavors or experience utilizing French Limousin casks would do, but I get the feeling it did nothing in this instance. Glenlivet continues to disappoint. Had this at Slainte mhath bar in Busan, South Korea.

Grade: C

Whiskyanalysis.com, 8.38 ± 0.25 on 19 reviews
Whiskyfun.com, Serge, sgp:441, 81 points
Thewhiskeyjug, Josh Peters, 87/100
Whisky advocate, John Hansell, 87 points
Ralfy, 84 points

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

🇭🇰 🇺🇸(LA, SF) -> 🇯🇵 (京都, 東京) -> 🇰🇷 (서울, 부산)