Without any preambles, let me say that The Glenlivet’s 16 year old offering Nadurra is perhaps one of the finest, fully-rounded Speyside malts I’ve tasted yet. Nadurra is a Gaelic word meaning ‘natural.’ The Glenlivet’s expression spends 16 years maturing in first-fill American oak casks and is bottled at 48% ABV. Also, it is non-chill filtered- making for a cloudy malt in the evening. Given the avoidance of filtration, I would have preferred to get my hands on Nadurra’s cask strength version. But this was the bottle available at Delhi Duty Free, so this is what I went with.
To the eye, Nadurra is a pale gold malt. And there is no label on the back of the bottle to suggest any caramel colouring. It harks back to the traditional days of 19th century single-malt, which is what The Glenlivet intends with the Nadurra. On the nose, the whisky gives bold wafts of walnut, apricot, grain and caramel. The note is full and heavy-bodied, and with a splash of water come out the smells of aniseed, citrus and sugar. Already there is no doubt that this is a fine malt of Speyside (experts are known to say that a single malt can be judged by smell alone).
On the palate, the Nadurra gives gracious flavours of toffee, butter, cocoa and sour grapes. The malt is smooth and flows nicely down the throat, ending in a full and rounded glow of spice- which to me is a flavour I ascribe to The Glenlivet. As mentioned in my review of the Laphroaig 18 YO, it is always nice to detect similarities and common notes in different expressions of a single distillery. And in this the Nadurra does not disappoint. After adding a dash of water to it, the barley in the whisky comes out strong and full- and personally I would prefer it with not more than a few drops of water, only because it makes the malt rounder.
All in all a great additional to my collection, both at the bar cabinet and also for personal experience. This is not a malt I would readily share with guests.
Notes
Eye- pale gold Nose- nuts, grain, caramel, citrus and aniseed Palate- toffee, butter, cocoa, sour grapes, barley Finish- spice, Glenlivet! ABV- 48%