I always have a bit of a chuckle when one of the biggest, most corporate distilleries in Scotland starts toting things like ‘Illicit Still’. This whisky is about 200 years removed from an illicit still at Glenlivet, but that doesn’t hold back the old marketing department.

What did surprise me is that this is a whisky with a title/name AND an age statement. Generally speaking these things are mutually exclusive, so some kudos to Glenlivet for that.

Tom, of Whisky Odyssey and from many a guest post here, bought a bottle and was kind enough to supply me with a sample. Let’s dive in!

Sniff:
This is a very light whisky, I think I would have guessed it to be a blend if I had tried it blind. There is a bready barley note, with a touch of cardboard and lemon. A hint of charcoal dust and simple syrup behind it.

Sip:
The palate shows more of that charcoal dust and cardboard. Also grist, sawdust and more of a wheaty bread like note. Hints of white pepper, a bit of vanilla, syrup and lemon curd.

Swallow:
The finish loses the note of pepper and gets a bit more sweet. A bit more vanilla too, surprisingly generic.

I strongly doubt this tastes anything like illicit still whisky of yonder year. Also, it is actually quite generic. Unfortunately, I think this is different but not better than the regular Glenlivet 12, but almost twice as expensive.

80/100