Glenlivet Founder's Reserve Single Malt Whisky 700ml

Whiskyadvocate.com
Rated by: John Hansell, 92/100

A special bottling to celebrate a major distillery expansion in 2010. So nice to see this whisky bottled at cask strength and not chill-filtered. Silky smooth, velvety texture. Creamy sweet foundation of vanilla fudge and caramel-coated almond. Plenty of fruit, too (golden raisin, honeyed peach, ripe nectarine, hint of banana bread). Richly textured, good weight (but not cloying), and the flavors combine seamlessly. A celebratory whisky indeed.

Over two hundred years ago, whisky was closely bound up in the lives of every family in the glen of the Livet. It was local farmer George Smith who was renowned for his fine ‘illicit’ whisky, in 1824 seized upon the opportunity to obtain the first license to produce whisky ‘legally’ in the parish of Glenlivet. He knew exactly where to build his new distillery and went on to produce a spirit that would define the Speyside style of whisky which became the heartland of Scotch malt whisky production.
The pioneering spirit, inspired by George Smith, runs through the history of The Glenlivet and is just as prevalent today.