Drinking All The Things: Glenlivet XXV Tasting at Beautique NYC

I suppose you could say that I’ve lived the opposite life as Glenlivet XXV scotch. While I was first opening my eyes to take in the colors of the world, just over twenty five years ago, the whisky was locked away in in a barrel made of oak, stained by previous batches of Oloroso sherry. And as I began to walk about the world, the whisky remained hidden away in a single location by the river Livet in a northeastern region of Scotland known as Speyside. And as I was on display to everyone around me, including family and friends and teachers and employers and a random assortment of folk on the subway, the whisky remained alone, untouched, carefully guarded, aging just the same.

In other ways, the two of us have followed similar paths over these twenty five years. I learned new things, such as manners and etiquette and history and finance and Lord of the Rings trivia, all (or mostly all) making me a more interesting partner in conversation. The whisky, too, became more complex, taking on the sweet and spicy complexion of its darkened walls and a shining and clear amber color, all making it a more interesting partner in consumption. And, all else told, we found ourselves in the same restaurant on a weeknight just shy of St. Patrick’s Day, a restaurant which brought out the best in both of us.

The Glenlivet XXV at Beautique

The restaurant was Beautique and the scotch was The Glenlivet XXV, and I was simply lucky to be in the room where it happened. Beautique, a relatively new modern American restaurant just a few steps from the Plaza Hotel, was a perfect host for a tasting of The Glenlivet. We gathered in a small oval room at the back of the restaurant, tucked between the dining room, the kitchen, and a club hidden behind a curtain. The crowd was small and diverse, both inside and out our small black-and-white-tiled room, and all were entertained first by an easy stream of good classic tunes and second by a live band performing with a happy level of energy for a Tuesday night.

For each expression of whisky (there were five, not counting the 15 Year French Oak in the old-fashioneds that greeted our entrance) provided and featured by Peter Karras, the Master of Scotch for The Glenlivet, Beautique offered a selection of nicely paired hors d’oeuvres. Mini crab cakes, vegetable spring rolls, tomato and mozzarella skewers, octopus tempura, tuna tartar, and prosciutto & ricotta crostini floated about the room, perfectly complementing the real stars of the show: the whisky. The Glenlivet 18 Year has a light and floral taste while the 21 year is silky and reminds Peter of crème brulee. The 25 Year takes that light and floral taste of the 18 and adds a spicy kick. The two Nadurra brands (one made in oaken bourbon barrels, the other in Spanish sherry) were overproof and powerful. The former, the Nadurra First Fill collection, just about evaporated in my mouth, while the Nadurra Oloroso Matured was heavy and sweet.

With each round, Peter offered a careful and caring description of the whisky, from its flavor profile that my palette is so unrefined as to mostly miss, to its production and history that sparks my imagination and has me dreaming about cloudy days, rocky cliffs, deep blue water, and bright green grass that I’m pretty certain covers the whole of Scotland. He was also able to add some pro tips to this amateur scotch drinker, such that adding water to the whisky is not just tolerated but also encouraged, and that there’s a scotch for every occasion, but the best of those is by a fireplace after a hard day of work.

Whether it’s by a fireplace or not, I’d very much like to cross paths with that 25 Year expression again. I feel like we have a lot to catch up on… I could tell it about the creation of the Euro zone, how Michael Jordan became the GOAT after six titles with the Bulls, and how rap music has really taken off on both sides of the Atlantic. In turn, the whisky could tell me a bit about the history of Scotland, about barley and water and rock and Spanish sherry barrels. I can’t thank Beautique enough for providing the venue of our introduction; I like to think of it as just the beginning of a 25+ year aging process.

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