Glenlivet 1968

40 year old Speyside 51.0 % vol

1 of only 139 bottles from cask no. 5252

40 years in a single cask is very rare for any Scotch whisky, especially one so noble as Glenlivet. When the maturation is a gentle as this particular cask, you know that you are in for a treat!
Rich, glowing gold with amber lights, the nose is immediately of expensive Tokajii. Very tangy, deep rancio, mashed bananas, sweet sherry, chocolate orange and Cointreau. Changing with every nose, this soon becomes tinned pineapples, then baked pineapples, Upside Down Pudding and Sloe Gin. Underneath, a more meaty nose with mint sauce, a lively vinegar and a hint of sanded wood and tobacco – definitely some distant smoke here.
At natural strength this is truly medicinal, mouth drying, minty, herbal sage becoming progressively sweeter with toffee. A little water brings out sour fruits, then lively green fruits, a hint of Hessian, bung cloth and light licorice and fennel.
A long, long, creamy finish as you would expect from such a “King ‘o Malts”, with lingering sage stuffing and dried Christmas fruits. One to truly cherish.

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