Glenlivet Master Distiller's Reserve Gets New Bottlings

The Glenlivet distillery over in Scotland has in its Scotch whisky stable a popular global retail travel bottling known as the Master Distiller’s Reserve. It was originally released in 2011, and now plans call for it to be the cornerstone of a new collection that will see two new releases joining it shortly.

Now it should be noted up front all three of these bottlings are non-age statement offerings, which for the Scotch industry as a whole is becoming a disturbing trend for some. We will leave the merits of that to a future post. As for what’s in this collection, the first new release is called Glenlivet Master Distiller’s Reserve Solera Vatted. It is a 40% ABV expression described as a blend of “ex-sherry, American oak and traditional oak casks [that] have been brought together in a Solera Vat.”

This vat, according to Glenlivet, is never emptied, thus resulting in a whisky which will develop “greater complexity year over year.” As a result of a high concentration of first fill American oak casks, there’s said to be in the taste “a creaminess and honeyed sweetness” and a “uniquely velvety character.”

Joining the regular Reserve and the Solera Vatted is Glenlivet Master Distiller’s Reserve Small Batch, which was also bottled at 40% ABV. For this the distillery makes each batch “with individually selected casks, chosen from the collection of whiskies maturing in the Glenlivet warehouses. Every single cask is nosed prior to the final selection and the finest first fill ex-sherry and American oak casks are combined with traditional oak casks.”

In terms of pricing for the collection, here is how Glenlivet has things laid out in travel retail outlets: The Glenlivet Master Distiller’s Reserve $52.00, The Glenlivet Master Distiller’s Reserve Solera Vatted $75.00 and The Glenlivet Master Distiller’s Reserve Small Batch $150.00.