GLENLIVET 18YR

Dried apricot, orange marmalade, and caramelized apple lead the glass, with honey and vanilla underneath and a long, warm finish of winter spice and toasted oak. That profile is the direct result of 18 years in a combination of first- and second-fill American oak casks alongside ex-sherry oak casks — the American oak driving the fruit and vanilla sweetness, the sherry casks adding dried-fruit depth and spice. Glenlivet was the first legally licensed distillery in the Livet valley, established in 1824; its signature lantern-shaped copper pot stills with long, narrow necks produce a characteristically light, non-peated Speyside spirit that takes well to long maturation. Water is drawn from Josie's Well on the distillery grounds.