Glenlivet Nadurra First Fill NAS
Region: Speyside
ABV: 59.8%
E150: No
Chill-filtered: No
Batch: FF0115
Container: Spiegelau Whisky Snifter – Rested for 20 minutes – splash of water
Colour: Pale straw
Nose: Full blown vanilla, edges of alcohol, small hints of mints??, pears, with water: wow! Opens up more fresh fruits, tons of apples, floral.
Palate: Nice wave of fresh fruity sweetness, hints of oak, more hints of mints (is it even mint??), custard sweetness, some bananas, nice layers of sweetness.
Finish: Long warming feel in the mouth, hints of oak and nuts, with the sweetness and slight spiciness undertone lingering on. Real delicious treat!
Score: 85.5/100
This is what I have been looking for as a replacement for my first single malt the Glenlivet 12, retains that profile but a lot more punch and complexity.
Moving onto the 16, let’s see why most people love this dram!
Glenlivet Nadurra 16
Region: Speyside
ABV: 55.3%
E150: No
Chill-filtered: No
Batch: Unknown
Container: Spiegelau Whisky Snifter – Rested for 20 minutes – splash of water
Colour: Darker than the NAS, Gold.
Nose: Really different right off the bat, instead of sweet fruits, the first impression is honeydew melon, less alcohol on the nose, more tamed, cooked apples, honey, bananas, vanilla, small hints of oak, doesn’t have that minty notes I was getting on the NAS. With water: Opens up some floral undertone, more sweetness, strawberry jam and apple juice.
Palate: More apple juice, slight peppery, citrus, slight mineral/smoke, more of a cooked fruits approach vs. the NAS’s fresh cut fruits, oak, unknown herbal notes, pears and hints of smoke?(Am I drunk???)
Finish: Nice lingering finish, slight spice, malt, more apple sweetness, more oak, then slight mineral taste in the very end.
Score: 85/100
I feel like I am about to get stabbed for rating the NAS higher, I enjoyed them both equally. Instead of thinking they are the same product line, I would think them as different whisky, with different approach.
The NAS made me look back to my first single malt, the Glenlivet 12, afterwards I have been searching for something more or less the same, but with more complexity. I think I have found what I have been looking for, big bourbon cask flavor profile, fresh fruits and nice lingering sweetness.
The Glenlivet 12 has a special place in my heart even tho I no longer enjoy it as much, it reminds me of the same feeling as discovering a new continent, excitement. “WOW I can’t believe whisky tastes like this!” This has that magic, the innocence. In the same way how Richard Hammond on Top Gear compared Pagani to Ferrari/Lamborghini. Pagani (NAS First Fill) is where they still carries the innocence, the Nadurra 16 feels like the grown up Ferrari/Lamborghini (As I have driven a 458, and been in my friend’s Aventador multiple times), it’s really safe and predictable, more tamed, more grown up.