The Glenlivet distillery is located in the Speyside town of Ballindalloch, Banffshire and was founded officially in 1824 when George Smith received his licence to distill.

After initially renting a small farm for the purpose, the current distillery was built in 1858.

1880 Saw the granting of the sole right to use the name "The Glenlivet" after many other distilleries in the area had started using "Glenlivet" after their own distillery name(s) to infer quality.

Glenlivet merged with Glen Grant in 1953 to form The Glenlivet & Glen Grant Distilleries Ltd.

Glenlivet was taken over by Seagram of Canada in 1977 who then merged Glenlivet with Chivas Brothers in 1983 to form The Chivas and Glenlivet Group.

The Chivas and Glenlivet Group was taken over by Pernod Ricard in 2001 and they remain the owners today (2011).

More great distillery info here, thanks to Malt Madness

The Glenlivet 12y, 40% ABV

Issued around 2006-7

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Warm gold

Nose: Quite sweet, fruity, malt and a hint of fresh oak

Palate: Creamy malt and fruit. The actual fruit was hard to determine, but perhaps that's because it was more like a good, old-fashioned fruit cocktail.

With 3 drops of water: The nose is more aromatic with concentrated fruit, but the palate is too weakened.

Finish: Medium to long

Overall Impression: A very nice, standard and fruity 12y malt, but better without the water.

The Glenlivet 15y, 'French Oak', 40% ABV

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Rich gold, oak

Nose: Sweet wood, nuts, marzipan, a little fruit and a touch of red wine.

Palate: Smooth, slightly sweet, some fruit (mainly berries) and a hint of marzipan.

Finish: Long with faint marzipan and a hint of red wine.

Overall Impression: Not earth-shattering, but a good, honest, smooth and very drinkable fruity whisky with a hint of red wine on the finish.

The Glenlivet 18y, 43% ABV

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Amber

Nose: Rich Summer fruits, slightly toasted oak and a mixture of berries.

Palate: Definite berries, some nuts and a rich creamy mouth-feel.

With 3 drops of water: Over a few minutes this opens into a very aromatic fruity whisky and is that a tiny hint of smoke too?

Finish: Very long with fruity malt and just a slight hint of coconut.

Overall Impression: I really like Glenlivet 18y, a very good whisky.

The Glenlivet Nadurra, 16y, Cask Strength, 57.2% ABV

Issued around 2006-7

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: 21 carat gold

Nose: Malt, straw and a little leafy with a hint of smoked bacon.

Palate: Lots of fruit (mainly orange, peach & apricot) but also a richness that's hard ot identify and sits somewhere between toffee and liquorice.

With 3 drops of water: A lighter and more aromatic nose now has floral and perfumed notes and just a hint of sun cream. The palate is now an explosion of coconut, fruit and (red) candy floss.

With 4 more drops of water: Still a light and aromatic nose but that explosion on the palate has been tamed into very smooth, gentle fruit.

Finish: Very long.

Overall Impression: I love it and be sure to add just a drop or two of water for maximum effect!

The Glenlivet Nadurra, 16y, Cask Strength, 54.2% ABV

Batch No.11091 (2010)

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Bright yellow gold

Nose: Apricot, peach and butterscotch with a faint malty background and just a hint of freshly-polished wood. As the minutes progress the butterscotch increases.

Palate: White pepper on the sides of the palate whilst apricot and butterscotch dominate the centre. This also has a very creamy mouth-feel.

With 4 drops of water: The nose is much lighter and the palate has more wood and pepper whilst the fruit decreases.

Finish: Long and fruity, more pepper with the water added.

Overall Impression: Nice, very nice.

The Glenlivet XXV, 43% ABV

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Nose: Very slightly menthol oak

Palate: Exceptionally smooth, walnuts and pecan nuts with a background of butterscotch. Very long and gentle finish.

Overall Impression: Delightfully drinkable. The best dram of the day at the recent Munich whisky festival. Only the price prevents me from running out and immediately buying a bottle or three.

Coopers Choice Glenlivet, 11y, 1998-2010, 46% ABV

Cask Ref. 126874, single sherry cask

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Teak

Nose: Typical sherry cask attributes with dark fruits (raisins, currants, plums) leather and aged oak, but also with a suggestion of lightly toasted apricots & berries.

Palate: Those lighter fruit notes definitely come through on the palate with lots of apricot, peach and berries, but all apparently marinated in an old oak tub of sherry with marzipan and (other) nuts.

Finish: Long, fruity sherry.

Overall Impression: A sherry cask Glenlivet? The light fruit notes that are synonymous with Glenlivet combine excellently with the richer sherry attributes to provide a very good whisky. I really, really like this one!

BBR Glenlivet, 1982-2009, 52.2% ABV

Exclusive bottling for Germany

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Teak with a tinge of copper

Nose: First comes the almond / amaretto, then dark cherries, wood and something herbal and very aromatic which reminds me of cardomom seed. After 4-5 minutes an almost minty freshness appears in the background.

Palate: Very creamy mouth-feel with oodles of well-balanced wood and fruit, think dark cherries and light figs, followed by oatmeal biscuits.

With 4 drops of water: Very aromatic fruit bursts onto the nose alongside the wood. The palate is softer, creamier and fruitier.

With a further 4 drops of water: The nose now has candy floss alongside the aromatic wood. Then comes bramble and raspberry wrapped in marzipan. The palate now includes white pepper, marzipan and raspberry.

Finish: Very long. Without the water there's lots of fruit and wood and hints of coffee beans and dark chocolate right at the end.  It's also slightly dry. With water it has lighter fruit liek raspberry, but some pepperiness too.

Overall Impression: Another marvellous Glenlivet sherry cask. I adore this whisky!

I've had the chance to revisit this whisky in December 2011

Glass; Classic Malt

Colour; Very deep amber

Nose; Rich and deep with dark fruits and lots of wax polish. Very rich indeed in a light kind of way.

Palate; Creamy and lightly peppery, then fruity with hints of coconut and all lightly sherried.

Finish; Long, lively and richly fruity.

Overall Impression; Lots happening, excellent!