‘THE SINGLE MALT THAT STARTED IT ALL’ IS ‘NATURALLY’ NUMBER ONE

After already having been short-listed by a panel of renowned experts in March this year, The Glenlivet Nàdurra 16-Year-Old was decreed a ‘natural’ winner (‘Nàdurra’ is Gaelic for ‘natural’) by visitors who cast their ballots at the 2008 Spirit of Speyside Whisky Awards earlier this month. The Awards took place at the Spirit of Speyside Festival, the oldest, most established whisky festival in Scotland. The Glenlivet Nàdurra demonstrated the merit of ‘natural’ selection, as the smooth, sleek malt with finesse walked away with the top award in the ’13-20 Year Old’ category.

In alliance with Whisky Magazine, the Spirit of Speyside Awards has developed into an integral and prestigious feature of the Spirit of Speyside Festival over the last three years. This award is the latest accolade in The Glenlivet’s unparalleled history of success at the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Awards, at which the brand has won a category award every year since the creation of the Awards in 2005. This year’s Festival is the most successful to date with a record number of whisky enthusiasts frequenting the region.

This latest award for The Glenlivet Nàdurra 16-Year-Old follows hot-on-the-heels of its Gold at the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, sealing The Glenlivet’s undisputed position as the ‘definitive single malt’. These two esteemed awards, in close succession, are demonstrative of The Glenlivet’s unshakable popularity amongst whisky enthusiasts, who recognise the unrivalled provenance that signifies the bedrock of the brand’s dynamism today.

David de Mardt, Managing Director of Pernod Ricard South Africa, the drinks giant responsible for marketing Chivas Brothers, commented: “This additional feather in The Glenlivet’s cap is testament to its consistency in quality and distinguished taste. What differentiates the Spirit of Speyside Awards from others is its embracing of public opinion, while similarly recognising the importance of expert opinion. This success enjoyed by Nàdurra in a competition which marries both professional and consumer opinion, illuminates the core integrity of this malt across the board”. He added, “This award is not surprising as The Glenlivet Nàdurra hails from a prestigious pedigree with The Glenlivet currently ranked the world’s number two malt whisky by volume, and the biggest selling malt in the dynamic US market.”

This Spirit of Speyside Award is particularly momentous and evocative for The Glenlivet as this iconic whisky hails from The Livet Valley in Speyside. Dubbed ‘the single malt that started it all’, The Glenlivet boasted the first distillery in 1824 and was thereafter rivalled and imitated prolifically. Today, only The Glenlivet retains the legal right to be called ‘The Glenlivet’, linking it to the Livet Valley and rendering it inextricably intertwined with the true spirit of Speyside.

In keeping with traditional Speyside style, Nàdurra is a velvety, fruity Speyside single malt. Nàdurra perpetuates The Glenlivet’s inimitable soft richness. The floral aromas are interspersed with creaminess and richness devolved from maturation in first-fill ex-bourbon casks.