Glenlivet Enigma

The third of a special series of mistery expressions of The Glenlivet, "Enigma" follows the "Cipher" and "Code" to deliver a fun, interactive way to enjoy your whisky and test your skills as a taster. This time, the Glenlivet wants you to find the tasting and aroma notes by completing a crossword in their website. Not one of the words you have to guess have anything to do with whisky, but it is very entertaining. You will have to fill 3 crosswords and the difficulty will get higher on each level. If you manage to complete the crossword, a tasting note will appear. Actually it only says:Apple; Spicy and Liquorice. Well, the "Code" experience was far better but i got to say this one is good enough to propose something different when enjoying a dram. Bottled at.... 60.6%abv! This is great! On the nose: right away i got tropical fruits, specially Pineapple. Apples, Sider, Cinnamon, Ginger and Pepper. Impalpable sugar, Vainilla. Nice aroma, very tropical. On the palate, Pineapple, Apples; Super spicy but pleasant. Brown sugar and Apricots. Aftertaste is very balanced and good. It first feels like eating the heart of the pineapple. Pepper, Ginger, Wasabi. Very pleasant. Liquorice. Overall this is a very good dram with some highlights to talk about: 1.- it has no alcohol note AT ALL, amazing thing since it has 60.6%abv; and, 2.- the three notes from the crossroads are easy distinguishable but this whisky is far more complex than just those three notes. My score for it is 89 over 100.

The nose has a quite full with more of a malty-grassy presence than a sweet or fruity one. There's a lot of earth on the nose and maybe a touch of smoke, but it doesn't smell like a smoke or peat bomb. The nose is balances I guess, but not very complex. There's a hint of fruit (apples) on the nose. The palate is kind of odd with some apples up front that linger a bit with a crispness that borders on juiciness and some dancing mushrooms. It's fairly harsh, but that is to be expected with the ABV. The flavor is also more full and bitter than I would expect from Glenlivet. It has a decent amount going on if you really dive in, but it is on the more subtle side. There's some more floral flavor with water added, but not a ton. Some more alcohol comes out with the added water though too. It drinkable, but it's definitely young. This is serviceable scotch with some subtleties that can be enjoyable if you dig, but it's super hot even with water and is clearly young. I'd drink it, but it wouldn't be my first choice by any means.

When I first opened this, I liked it fine but felt it wasn’t fantastic given its price and hoopla. So it sat through the fall, then I returned to it for a tasting. Holy cow did it improve! Its somewhat subdued, savory palate has exploded into a burst of honey and ginger and heather, a great highland Scotch turned up to 11. In addition to being much sweeter than it was before, it carries the high proof better, and it doesn’t have the smoke accent that came in on the finish. I love Islay peat, don’t get me wrong, but it was an off note here. If I have the chance I’ll definitely grab another bottle.

Light fruits(pear/apple) on the nose with an unmistakable grassy and sweet aroma. Proof comes through on the palate, with anise/licorice featuring prominently. It’s got a nice viscous quality unlike most glenlivet. The proof livens it up but makes for a slightly astringent taste that may not be for beginners. I’m enjoying this bottle although I feel it’s overpriced.

This one is pretty rough. My bottle says 60.6%. There is a little bit of strawberry, some vanilla, and a lot of spice. Tastes more like flavored vodka than single malt Scotch. Hopefully it will settle down in a few months.

Disappointing - water helps but still rough / will try again after the bottles been open a bit but hard for me to appreciate this one