Glenlivet 12 Illicent Still

Amazon. The awe-inspiring moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in South America…

But honestly, who doesn’t think of the Jeff Bezos behemoth as their first thought on that word?

Like with the book industry, Amazon is seemingly trying to crush and conquer the world of online Whisky shops with their dangerously competitive prices and are now releasing their own exclusives. Glenlivet 12 Illicit Still is one of these exclusives.

Marketed as a nod to the illicit Scotch Whisky trade and their founder George Smith, this is an official Glenlivet release that is not chill-filtered and is at 48% ABV. Bar the Nadurra range most of Glenlivet’s products are chill-filtered to prevent any Scotch mist appearing in their bottles. Why they hide this impressive ABV in the tiniest sideways letters is beyond me. However, lets not bash a good thing.

Experience

In the glass, it is a worryingly glowing golden radium colour. For what I thought was an all-natural dram at first, I had to double-check to only find out that it uses added colouring.

Apparently, a limited release, this step away from the mass-produced bottles and in my mind a good gap-filler in their core range. Time will tell how limited this release is.

The label has a little bit more character than the standard 12, but not enough to make it stand out on a shelf. Glenlivet has always looked a little middle of the road regarding style and this could of been a good time to shine.

Nose

There is lots of sweet honey straight off the bat, tied in with some fresh and juicy white fruits. Really hits with basket fulls of melons and pears. This to me is a real representation of what Speyside Whisky is all about.

It has a lot of similarities to the standard 12 but with a bit more heft behind it. This boost gives a welcome punchy rum note to the aroma making it even more inviting.

Taste

This surprised me.

Velvet texture on the tongue with plenty of honeydew melon leading the taste. Despite the higher ABV, there is little to no heat just a rich mouthfeel that coats the mouth pleasantly.

The biggest flavour I find in Glenlivet (especially the 15) is warm hazelnuts. Mr. T would be happy with this dram due to the number of nuts you get. A post Whisky Snickers would certainly be too much. Interestingly it steers into roasted chestnuts which is a flavour I have not really experienced in Whisky. Well not that I can remember. I do drink a lot.

The finish is quite short in the mouth but still enough to make me have a good scout online for a bottle.

Value for Money

When I saw this pop up on Amazon during Black Friday at £38 I thought it was a gimmick release to lure you in. Then after seeing a couple of reviews describing this as “pretty middle of the road”, I felt relieved of my frugal nature not caving to the lower price.

On reflection, for that price, it is tempting. Now that it is sitting around £45 on Amazon now, there may be a twinge of regret. Let’s just see if it drops again!

Thank you to Budget Drams for this sample.