Picked up a four pack of 50 ml Glenlivet samplers for AUD$30. Bargain. No expectations of grandeur but about time I knocked off a couple of common place bottom to 1st shelf bar offerings… N: Sweet and with a little sharp sourness, almost oxidised vinegary-wine. Bright orange zest, a little toffee and a slightly funky malt. Some chocolate is there as is some generic orchard fruit juice and a touch of honey. The more I dig into the funky malt the more I find it verges on dustiness and acridity, like rotten fruit. There may be a little acetone buzz too. P: Thin and watery and with a little ethanol burn I wouldn’t have expected for 40% ABV. Generically fruity and sweet with plenty of malt and brown sugar. Theres a little chocolate-toffee and a late creamy texture. A fairly lacklustre palate leaning towards insipid. The redemption comes at the end of the dram where I have managed to find a little tannic presence that gives something of weight to the overall experience. F: Medium. Toffee cream and maybe a dried fruit sweetness that exits through lingering ethanol warmth and a bitterness that creeps in unexpectedly. I understand that this is a replacement of the Glenlivet 12 in some markets (seemingly not the Australian one though). If that is the case then there are obvious competitors, some of which I have had and would likely prefer over this (Glenfiddich 12 is the obvious one), otherwise there are a plethora of entry level NAS offerings to choose from. What we seem to have here is an inoffensive, forgettable entry level crowd pleaser for the less discerning whisky fan, whisky newbie, or cocktail mixer. If you have a distillery preference, then absolutely go ahead and get this as a (boring) run of the mill every day dram, but for me though…. pass the Monkey Shoulder. [Pictured here with a 320 million year old lump of essexite from Craigleith Island (nr. Edinburgh) in Scotland. If you have ever seen the winter olympics then you’ve probably seen this rock as since 2006 this rock, from this six hectare island, is the only rock used for curling stones.] Distiller whisky taste #112.