A whisky much older than most of us: The Glenlivet 1943 from Gordon & MacPhail has seen seven decades maturing in a sherry cask. It is offered now at the very limited number of 40 very exclusive glass decanters and shows up with 49.1% vol. If you want to get your hands on one you should place £30.000 on the table.

Destilled just before closure of Glenlivet in the Second World War

This new bottling is part of the Private Collection series of Gordon & MacPhail and very remarkable. Not only because of its exquisite packaging, its quality (which we indeed can’t judge, to be honest) or the high price but because it is witness of a time when wiskyproduction nearly had come to a still stand. Rigours and shortages of World War 2 forced most Scottish whisky distilleries to stop production from October 1942 on. Glenlivet could go on until April 1943 until it had to close, too.

A whisky that saw four generations of Urquhart

The whisky for the Glenlivet 1943 of Gordon & MacPhail was distilled in these last years before the production stopped. Its birthday was on 14 January 1943 when it was distilled, filled in a Sherry hogshead and branded with the number 121. Now it Stephen Rankin, director of Glenlivet and great-grandson of John Urquhart who once together with his brother George chose the cask to be filled. With this cask Gordon & MacPhail have taken the last one from the production year out of the company’s warehouses.

Tasting notes according to the press release

“Rich chestnut brown in colour, Private Collection Glenlivet 1943 by Gordon & MacPhail is a whisky of great balance and approachability. A full, fresh flavour of dark chocolate, oranges, and oakiness intermingles with treacle and liquorice and culminates with a subtle, ashy smokiness and an incredibly long finish.”

About the author Petra Milde

Petra Milde is a freelance author of books and specialist writing about spirits and food. She has been supporting the Whisky.de editorial team since 2015 and creates informative and entertaining articles in the news section.

Besides her writing work, she moderates tastings and can be met at spirits fairs, both behind the stands and in front of them, looking for new products and interesting people to talk to.

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