(Glenlivet)
Speyside distillery Glenlivet is not in the business of making ridiculously old whisky, but based on today’s news, it the Scottish distillery may have just been waiting on a perfect cask. It seems they’ve found it.
The Glenlivet Eternal Collection, First Edition, 55 Year Old, is a single-cask single malt from one of the most well-known names in scotch whisky. The “Eternal Collection” is set to become an annual release, according to the distillery, and while there’s no word on the ages of future releases, this announcement suggests that the team at Glenlivet has finally figured out how to make an old Glenlivet really incredible.
Glenlivet is admittedly late to the extreme age game, and not just in relation to their now 200-year history. Distilleries like Benromach, Benriach, Highland Park, Highland Park again, Glenrothes, and plenty of others you’re probably already aware of have crossed the 50-year threshold in recent years.
More interestingly, however, Glenlivet isn’t even the first to release a Glenlivet whisky above age 50. Several years ago, independent bottlers Gordon & MacPhail released an 80-year-old expression of Glenlivet whisky that was distilled in 1940, and other releases from independent bottlers have likewise crossed the distillery’s own threshold of 30 years for their Cellar Collection.
So why is Glenlivet finally doing this now? Part of the answer might simply be “because they have the right whiskies reaching maturity,” but it’s important to look at Glenlivet’s unique spirit profile a more complete answer.
Glenlivet has always been a lighter and brighter whisky than other Speyside and Highland distilleries. Like Glenmorangie or Aberfeldy, Glenlivet is leans toward floral and fruit-forward flavors—the opposite of the smoke-forward malts of Islay or oily sherry-dominant whiskies like Macallan and Glendronach.
(Glenlivet)
The problem is that those light and floral flavors are often the first to disappear as a whisky ages. That’s fine when your intention is to drop a syrupy sherry bomb or an oaky tannin bomb. When, however, a distillery is trying to preserve those light and bright flavors, the cutoff is rarely this far forward in time, making casks like this one truly rare. According to the distillery, that iconic Glenlivet character shines through on this 55-year-old expression.
It starts with a nose of “autumn” fruits: a “gentle sweetness of poached pears, heady citrus notes of ripe, sun-drenched Seville oranges, deeper note of sticky dates,” and the “deep warmth of toasted hazelnut” are counterbalanced by the “indulgent richness of dark chocolate” and the “enveloping, spiced warmth of cinnamon and nutmeg.” On the palate, Glenlivet described warming flavors—“blackcurrant jam, vanilla fudge and dark chocolate; balanced with zesty orange and crystalized ginger before closing with a touch of warming clove spice.” The finish is subtly warming, dry, and spicy, without losing this fruity character’s complexity.
At an ABV of 42.2 percent, this whisky is certainly not the high-proof cask strength you’d expect from an American single cask, but that lower proof point also allows for more of the fruity nuances of flavor to shine through.
Glenlivet, for its part, is managing expectations by limiting this and future Eternal Collection releases to single casks, which makes sense both for the price point and the rarity expected of super-ultra-mega-premium single malt releases. Only 100 bottles of this whisky are being produced for the global market. The $55,000 price tag is similar to other recent releases in this age range, though this one should be set apart as something special. Glenlivet took 200 years to deliver something of this magnitude—let’s hope they get to the second one much sooner.
G. Clay Whittaker is a Maxim contributor covering lifestyle, whiskey, cannabis and travel. His work has also appeared in Bon Appetit, Men’s Journal, Cigar Aficionado, Playboy and Esquire. Subscribe to his newsletter Drinks & Stuff for perspectives on drinks, and stuff.