Glenlivet - Cipher

The Glenlivet Ciper was presented recently in #TheGlenlivetCipher Twitter Tasting. There are no details know of this bottling besides being bottled at 48% and available for around 110 pounds. Bottled in a black bottle to conceal the colour and only telling us that they used a combination of casks never seen before in The Glenlivet portfolio to create this limited edition expression. They will release more info over the coming months.

This way of releasing this expression is meant to test the senses of the consumer and make you look for the key notes and features. To make you share these with them online and to see how you compare to the official tasting notes of the Glenlivet. You can feel the central core of apples, vanilla and toffee in lots of the Glenlivet expressions, being fruity and sweet, and this one does not let you down in that department. Nosing and tasting this whisky the thoughts of maturation in a sherry, rum or a desert wine like cask combined with new oak passed by. But nothing yet that I could pin down. It had something of them all that hints back to them.

On the website you can choose from 12 set flavours on the nose and palate, and you choose 6 and fill in the strength. That combines in 6 notes on the nose and 6 on the palate. Looking at the notes from others during the tasting and my score of a 53% match with the official notes on the website I knew that my personal notes are clearly different. Oh well. They are mine and that is what is most important for me. Said it before, please don't let my notes be a guideline for you to buy or not to buy, they are my personal experience for a single moment when nosing and tasting it. So, lets have a look at my notes...

On the nose rich toffee and mixed nuts of hazelnuts, macademia and salty peanuts. Wood shavings, red crumbly apple, pencil graphite, dried banana, tobacco, oranges, marzipan, fruit cake, vanilla sponge, tutti frutti, vanilla, sultana and cranberry. Has some young rough edges to it but is covered by the overall very fruity and fresh citrus feeling quickly.

Moving on to the palate that is warm, sweet, spicy and fruity. Much like the nose with added to it spear mint, coconut milk, toffee, curry spices, baking spices, vanilla, honey, sultana, dried vigs, leather, tobacco and nutty chocolate paste. Fruits in abundance, red apple, pear, banana, oranges, lemon, gooseberry, red berry, raspberry, strawberry and grilled pineapple.

Medium length and sweet finish. But there is a combination of wood, spices and nuts on the finish that give it a very dry mouth feel in the end. Balanced, rich and sweet dram overall, except that finish that makes me score it lower at an 7,5 out of 10. If that dryness would not have been there it definitely would have been higher. Curious to hear more details on this expression and see what the build of it is...

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