Claimed (with more than a passing nod to the Voynich Manuscript) to be “the world’s most mysterious whisky”, Glenlivet Cipher – priced at £90, but also somehow “exclusive to Selfridges” at £110, don’t ask me to explain – comes in an “opaque black bottle without any cask information, age or tasting notes”.
The (almost inevitable) newmedia twist is that Glenlivet have not merely given the whisky its own #TheGlenlivetCipher hashtag *sigh*, but have also produced an online Cipher Experience to guide buyers through their own tasting, to try to help them decipher (what Glenlivet’s distiller Alan Winchester considers to be) the correct set of tasting notes. They also give you some clues in the form of short videos, all accompanied by a slightly self-important-sounding string backing. Which is nice.
Thankfully, there is (as far as I can tell) no silver dolphin concealed under a certain stone by the Moray Firth to be found at the end: it’s just a bit of PR-tastic tasting fun. All Alan Winchester says is that Glenlivet Cipher has an ABV of 48% and that it’s a non-chill-filtered single malt: the rest you have to work out for yourself.
Note that Glenlivet did a broadly similar thing back in 2013 with its limited edition (only 3500 bottles) Glenlivet Alpha, which also had no tasting notes or details beyond the minimum legal requirement (though they released more details after a month, presumably when they’d sold them all). By way of contrast, Glenlivet Cipher is to be produced in a quantity of 25,000: whisky aficionados thirsty for information will doubtless have a slightly longer wait this second time around. 🙂
Anyway, given that I got my WSET Level 2 qualification a few years back, I’m planning to give the Glenlivet Cipher Experience a go (though £90/£110 will be a decent-sized chunk out of my meagre cipher bookbuying budget). Perhaps Glenlivet’s PR people will ride to my rescue here, fingers crossed. 😉