Glenlivet Alpha

When Femke Tijtsma Sijtsma - aka Whisky Girl – started looking for candidates to join her in a birthday tasting, I was only to happy to get in touch with her. Not only because this is a fun idea, but I was also intrigued by the bottle she proposed: the Glenlivet Alpha. When it was launched in June 2013, it caused quite a stir. It was the first ever Glenlivet that showed no age nor any information about the cask. Only the ABV was mentioned on the label. A bit of an enigma, always exciting.

The nose is very fruity, almost like lemonade. Satsuma, pineapple, rhubarb, oranges, cherries, coconut. It does not end. A bit of puff pastry. Add some vanilla custard, toffee and nuts and you have a very light footed, fruity aperitif style whisky.

The arrival is fairly light, but again very fruit. Call it honeysweet. Pineapple and oranges in the lead. Gooseberries join in. The nuts reveal themselves as almonds. Something that reminds me of pastry again. A mild pepper and clear hint of cloves.

The finish is still quite sweet and dies a spicy death.

Good? Certainly. Special? Well, not so much. But a very nice aperitif to be sure. The bottle sold out in a flash and now easily fetches 200 to even 400 EUR. Thanks, Femke. And happy birthday to you!

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