Glenlivet 12 Year Illicit Still

Before 1824, every whisky distillery in Scotland was illicit. It was actually The Glenlivet the one to obtain the very first legal permit to distill and sell whisky. It was also the first distillery to get an certificate of Intelectual Property, to be the only one y that can use "The Glenlivet" name. This expression called "Illicit Stills", tells the stories of this distillery back in the early 1800s, and it has been designed to taste like the original Glenlivet, the one that existed before legalization. Bottled at 48%abv, golden color. On the nose it is very complex and nice. Green apples, detergent, toffee and ginger. Very clean and fruity. There is this apple spice that is lovely. No alcohol note, but feels strong on the nose, very appealing. After 3 minutes a recently baked brownies note has appeared. Amazing. It feels cold, gooseberries and dry grass. After the first sip, the aroma was all about peaches. Syrup. On the palate, i find it delicious. Raw rice, pears, honey, cardbox, oak spices. The second sip was sweeter, a nice caramel note, peaches, gooseberries, burnt hay. It is very nice. It is like licking the glue to close an envelope. Fantastic dram. Papers, old books. Aftertaste... was peaty? Paper, cardbox, hay, earthy. Wonderful. Ashtray, cigarrettes, very peaty finish. Overall, i had heard that this one was good, but i never expected it to be THIS GOOD. An enormous, very enjoyable, complex, fairly strong dram; full of fruity, spicy and peaty flavors. This is what whisky should be. I don't think this is the best whisky ever, but it is a lovely expression that should be tasted by all whisky lovers. My score for it is 96 over 100.

Nose: Apple, pear, vanilla, barley sugar, cherries, a waft of honeysuckle. Palate: Sweet and salty in the arrival like a combination of salted caramel and diluted honey. As it develops, the basket of orchard fruits that was the standout feature of the nose also shows up on the palate together with berries and rosewater. In the later palate I get a faintly bitter, grassy note but it’s not unpleasant. The texture is OK, nothing special, but it is creamier than the core-range 12 year old. Finish: Medium/Long. Orchard fruits trailing into black tea tannin, but the lingering aftertaste is mildly salty and sweet. This is immediately identifiable as Glenlivet whisky and very specifically as the standard 12 year old core-range expression turned up a notch in volume. It was 100% refill bourbon cask matured and was not chill-filtered but for some reason it was artificially coloured. My immediate question when tasting this for the first time (apart from what moron thought a special anniversary release that was otherwise purist in concept should be coloured with e150a) was "why is this not part of the core-range?". Doing so would not undermine sales of the standard 12 year old as this would definitely be more expensive, but it would earn back some street-credibility for the distillery that was lost after the release of their recent NAS horrors. Illicit Still was produced as a limited edition for the distillery's 200th anniversary and it was followed by another whisky called the "Licensed Dram” but neither expression is still available. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

I have always considered the standard Glenlivet 12 to be a very pleasant and consistent dram, but nothing to be considered exceptional or "mind-blowing." When I learned of this higher proof and non chill filtered version I was certainly intrigued. While not available in my area, I found a Calif shipper selling it for $3 less per bottle than the standard 12 yo available to me here. So, of course I ordered a few bottles. I was excited to make my first neck pour---then very disappointed. The fruity vanilla spice of the very easy drinking Glenlivet was there; but, it was wrapped in an off-putting bitterness. Ack!! Tried another pour, still the same result. I thought perhaps this is a dram that really is improved by having the fatty acids removed by chill filtering. I set the bottle aside. Two weeks later I gave it another try. Wow, what a difference! The classic flavors of Glenlivet were all there, but more intense as if on steroids. The bitterness was gone. What a lovely dram! This is one of those drams that needs to breathe. Be patient-----and enjoy.

Reminds me of a higher proof Glenlivet Founders Reserve. Not my favorite, but not awful either. I can't speak for other parts of the country but at a sub-$40 price point out here in CA, this is a bit of a bargain. Comes in just under 100 proof but it tastes of its proof as well. Underlying alcohol hotness throughout the taste, with a hint of chocolatey sweetness. I found there to be a slightly medicinal bitterness about the aftertaste. This tastes rough around the edges but perhaps that was the idea, given the illicit nature of the original whiskey of which this is named after? I don't know about this one. If French Oak wasn't so damned hard to find out here, I'd happily pay the $30-$40 price bump for a bottle of that over this.

Nose: Honey, barely, grapefruit / lemon zest. Acidic white wine sort of vibe. Dense burnt fruit cake, caramel, gold raisin, Taste: Dense honeyed fruit cake with golden raisin, apple, light caramel and vanilla. There is sort of a bitter dusty oak note about halfway through, almost like the aftertaste of really bitter dark chocolate. Grapefruit zest is on the finish. Water smooths everything out and mellows out the bitter and barley notes. Amplifies the fruit and sweet flavors and brings out a creamy quality and tempers the sour notes into a more sweet orange flavor It's good but not really worth seeking out

Just like the standard 12, but more so. Preferred as a 1 ½ oz pour to ½ oz cold spring water. Overripe Pineapple Bright honey Light marzipan Malty beer A touch more salt Chlorine (in a good way) More intense in almost every dimension Dear Glenlivet: remove the unnatural coloring, state it on the label, and sell this as the flagship 12 year bottling. The move will make the sanitized mass-appeal ‘Founder’s Reserve’ product finally make sense. Dry glass: Banana bread and plain bar soap.