The Glenlivet Founder's Reserve

 

They say it’s one of the most popular brands on the planet. First in the US, beating Glenfiddich, but globally second (Glenfiddich is numero uno). Well, I simply had to start my romance with Glenlivet from the very bottom - and here it is, The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve, or so called “the blue one”. It was £22 on Amazon, regular price, not bad at all. And you know what? We don’t need to dig really deep here. I really like it. Just like this.

I bought a trio: Founder’s Reserve, 12 Years Old and Caribbean Reserve. Put them all together, and you know what the world of whisky is about. The look is important. All of them are boxed. Blue, Green, Orange... And they look very sweet standing next to each other, and you know they are siblings. Same bottle, same label, same box. Just imagine getting a trio like this as a Christmas present! Descriptions on each box tell you all you need to know and, as always, emphasize all the differences. One minus: you don’t know which is the first in line. Well, the age statement on the Green one is a good indication but the Blue one is the “Founder's Reserve” and the Orange one is the “Caribbean Reserve”, so really…
Not like when you put together all the Johnnie Walkers’ bottles, and you know straight away all the price and quality ladder. Or maybe it’s supposed to be that way?

I like fruity whiskies, and I am not a big fan of peat.
This one's for me, for sure. Love the smell. If you are into big and bold fruity notes, you will like it. When it sits on my table, next to me, I simply write and inhale. Its aroma is not monotonous at all, and there’s a lot going on there. A mixture of different fruits, citrus and pear dominate for me, but don’t overpower all the floral notes. Some sweet notes as well are present there, and nothing unpleasant (fresh alcohol) doesn't touch your nose.
 
In your mouth - lovely and fruity again. Light notes of citrus and pear, not overloaded with darker notes of raisins, touch of something sweeter (toffee?) and some oaky bitterness on the end of your tongue. Goes down really smoothly, no burning or harshness, and you can feel its taste for quite a long time.

Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve is a whisky to enjoy. At least for me, because I like to smell my dram. I hold the glass for a long time, turning it in my hand, and I sniff, and sniff. This whisky is something to enjoy slowly, in good company, nice conversation in the garden, when the sun goes down, and you hear the wind singing gently in the leaves.

I have a bottle of Glenlivet 12 years old to try now. It’s sitting nicely and quietly in my whisky cupboard. Can’t wait to crack it open. If it’s only a little better than the Blue One, it is going to be the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship.
Anyway, as a summary...
Go and get The Founder’s Reserve. If you don’t know it yet, time to fix it. I am a late starter, so for me, it’s not a shame to get to know it now, in the late 2021, post Covid world. Better late than never. Just try. It’s worth it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Johhnie Walker Black Label

Image
Loved and respected 12 years old blended Scotch. Born in 1909. Highly recognizable. The exceptional mixture of many whiskies in the iconic bottle. I remember the day I put all my Johnnie Walker bottles together on the table. They looked great. I was sitting there, looking at them and thinking, “Gosh, I can’t even imagine how tasty they will be”. It’s great to have a child’s mind, isn’t it? Once I have mentioned the four bottles of Johnnie Walker I had bought in one go from Amazon, right at the beginning of my whisky adventure. The Black one sat really nicely amongst them, looking good next to the Red one, being very proud of its stylish box and slightly bigger bottle, but also being a little stressed by The Double Black one standing next to it. The fourth one, Green, was clearly out of their league, resting undisturbed at the end of the line. Well, for as long as I didn’t get The Gold one, but that's a different story. The bottle of the Black Label is one of the most recognizable ...
Read more

Chivas Regal 12

Image
  Chivas Regal 12 Years Old Blended Scotch whisky is something everyone knows or has heard about. No doubt. This brand’s name is a part of the global culture and it’s flagship, 12 years old blended whisky is present around in films, books and songs, no less than other most popular Scotch whiskies on the planet Earth, like Red Walker , Grant’s or Ballantine’s Finest. I had to do its review and I had to do it at this early stage. I’m not going to tell you in which film or book I’ve heard the name for the first time ( Exorcist and King), but instead I will tell you a story from the past. It all happened more than 20 years ago in Warsaw. I was a student of archaeology then, and I was living in the dorm. The whole campus was made out of two big blocks, four stories high. One of them, the old one, was called “The Old One”. The other one was called “Marriott” - pure luxury; small segments of two rooms with separate bathroom, inhabited only by four students (in “The Old One” there were 5...
Read more

The Woodsman Blended Scotch

Image
  Once in a while I see something new, mostly online, something I’ve never heard about before, and I buy. Sometimes I don’t know why. I think it’s pure curiosity and I have the soul of a scientist after all. I like to try new things, and then I have an opportunity to write about them. The Woodsman Blended Scotch is a perfect example of it. I saw it on Amazon, searching for whisky to buy. This time my goal was to get some Japanese stuff, and actually I already had Tenjaku and Hatozaki in my shopping basket. I’m not a very superstitious man, well, I have my “things”, like almost every human being. You know what I’m talking about. Things like cupboard doors always shut with nothing sticking out, eating scrambled eggs with one particular spoon (I wouldn’t eat my scrambled eggs with any other spoon) or... I never buy just two things, if it’s not absolutely necessary. I mean, you don’t go on a date with two flowers, the option is one or at least three. Three is not a magic number for me,...
Read more