Tell me, why Glayva?
I discovered Glayva in the late 1990s when a friend told me it was the ideal pick-me-up if you’re feeling under the weather. While I would never claim that alcohol cures all ills, the combination of whisky, honey and herbs certainly made me feel better, and it’s now a go-to drink whenever I feel a cold coming on.
Why not Drambuie?
In the whisky liqueur world, it’s Drambuie that’s the better known of the two, but I’m a Glayva man and proud of it, so when I saw a few Glayva miniatures from yesteryear on Whisky.Auction, I couldn’t resist bidding on them. They were a bargain, too, £5 for 12 minis, with some of the minis dating from the 1960s and 1970s.
So what does vintage Glayva taste like?
I held my own Glayva vertical tasting at home, and I was taken aback by the character and complexity of the older bottlings compared to the modern day version. There was rich spiciness, notes of marzipan and roast almonds, and a Cognac rancio note of leather and Christmas cake, particularly in the older bottlings.
That sounds amazing!
I couldn’t resist blending them, so now I have my very own full-size bottle of Glayva containing all my old minis, all made in the 1960s/1970s/1980s. It’s a wonderful thing and I always offer it to people who would never go near a single malt. And if it converts them to whisky – albeit slowly but surely – then that’s a good thing.
Do you feel better now that you have opened up about your love of Glayva?
I dare say there is a sizeable number of whisky drinkers who would shun all whisky liqueurs on principle, and I totally understand. But now and again, when there’s snow on the ground, it’s freezing outside and you have a log fire to curl up in front of, a little Glayva is a wonderful thing.
Do you have a Whisky.Auction story to tell? We’d love to hear from you.
