Back to the daily grind I go feeling a few pounds heavier and somewhat broke after the sales this weekend. I will fight all temptations and will try to refrain from participating in Cyber Monday. If you however can’t, I wanted to give you another whisky to consider if you are looking into the gift of whisky for someone.
Back in July I wrote about The Glenlivet 15-year-old French Oak Reserve. To summarize, I was not a fan of the 15 year French Oak and place it in my dislike column.
http://whiskeywench.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-glenlivet-15-year-old-french-oak.html
When coming upon The Glenlivet Nadurra 16 year old Cask Strength, I certainly had reservations about trying it, but it was a friend who provided it so why not give it a chance. According to The Glenlivet website, Nadurra is Gaelic for natural.
Before jumping into the whisky I wanted to make sure that anyone who isn’t very knowledgeable with whisky knew exactly what Cask Strength means. Most distillers after maturing whisky will dilute the whisky with water after removing it from the casks. This basically balances the alcohol and makes it more consistent. It also slightly reduces that alcohol strength. When a whisky is Cask Strength it means that the whisky is bottle exactly how it was aged in the casks without it being diluted. This does mean that the whisky will be stronger and at times more expensive.
The Nadurra 16 cask was definitely stronger than the 15 year French Oak, however I liked it a whole lot better than I did the 15 year French Oak.
On the nose the Nadurra 16 cask smelled sweet and fruity. Upon tasting it you do get a slight burn, which I always appreciate. The tasting notes were oak and vanilla. I also found it to be dry. It was certainly a different experience from when I first had my first Glenlivet product. It was well balanced and the bourbon casks do help with that sweet taste.
If you were like me and didn’t like the 15 year French Oak then I think you might like this one. The Nadurra 16 cask would range at a $65 price.
If you have a love one that loves whisky, a bottle of whisky certainly makes for a good gift. If you don’t know what to get them consider looking throughout the blog to check out the other ranges and bottles I have written about. Most of the other whiskies range in prices and tastes. I am certain there is information there for everyone’s palate. If not the blog you can always ask your local liquor store vendors to suggest something in your price range.
Good luck with your shopping!
Cheers!
