A year and a half ago I reviewed another batch of Glenlivet’s Nadurra (1109I) and there was some discussion in the comments about batch variation. In fact, in that review I’d linked to Jordan D.’s review of sample from this very bottle, which he did not like at all. And the source of that sample, Florin (a notorious Albanian diva), also chimed in the comments on both Jordan’s review and mine to note that he too thought it was very poor. Well, even though I am by nature suspicious of narratives of decline, this didn’t make me very excited about the prospect of opening this bottle.

But open it I eventually did—for one of my local group’s tastings. And none of us thought it was objectionable in the slightest; indeed, one person had it as their top whisky on the night. I didn’t give it a particularly strong score on the night, but I did think it was hot (it had been opened for the tasting) and needed to breathe a little longer in the open bottle. As it happens, I thought the couple of tastes I’ve had of it since were much better. The bottle is now in the last third and destined to be finished quickly and so it’s finally time for formal notes. Continue reading →