Review: The Glenlivet Nadurra Peated Whisky Cask Finish

By Christopher Null | October 22, 2015 |

Glenlivet’s third Nadurra (Gaelic for “natural”) expression is here (released yesterday) — and it’s Glenlivet’s first peated whisky in over 100 years.

For those unfamiliar with this line — which now includes three Nadurra bottlings, all permanent extensions to the Glenlivet stable — the goal is to bring whisky back to its roots, through cask strength releases with no additives or chill filtration.

Note that Nadurra #3 is not peated whisky but rather standard Glenlivet whisky that is aged in bourbon casks (no age is stated), then finished in casks that formerly held heavily peated whisky (again, no time is stated). So, bourbon barrel-aged malt, finished in used, peated malt casks. If you recall, Balvenie did this same thing a few years ago, to much acclaim.

Intense peat on the nose, with ample salt water and iodine character. Some fruit up front — banana and apples — plays nicely with nougat and almond notes. The body pumps up banana and apple, more nuts — walnut and almond — with a finish that plays to light chocolate character, coconut, some spearmint, and nuts. What’s not overdone here is the peat — which is incredibly present on the nose, but which doesn’t come across as strenuously on the body.

With some water — this is cask strength remember — the fruitier elements come more to the forefront, giving the smoke a sweeter character to it. There’s more chocolate and more citrus here — two flavors that work well together — while the peat takes a nice position in the back seat. The finish is quite drying, though, leaving behind notes of ash rather than fruit.

Overall, it’s a nice extension for Glenlivet, taking it squarely out of its comfort zone and into some new and interesting territory.

123 proof. Reviewed: First production run, Batch PW0715.

B+ / $85 / theglenlivet.com [BUY IT NOW FROM CASKERS]