I received a rather strange invitation awhile back, which I am rather glad didn't accidentally slip into my spam folder. Albeit very short notice, what attracted me were the words, Guardians of Glenlivet. It is no secret that I love Glenlivet, (along with a few other glens), so I was intrigued by the invitation, and could not resist attending this mysterious function, that sounded like an underground cult, or the knights templar guarding the holy grail.
This was not the first of such events, and I was privileged to be "initiated" into this coterie of single malt aficianados, though I myself, whilst enjoying the taste, can hardly claim to be one myself. The invitation enigmatically stated, “An Evening In The Dark With The Glenlivet”, at the newly opened Barn Thai (yes, people who used to party in the 90s, Barn Thai is back!). At first I thought it was one of those dining in the dark experiences.
Guests who attended were blindfolded, engaging all their senses as they were poured surpriseStar of the night, The Glenlivet Alpha. Housed in a striking black bottle, only 3,350 bottles of The Glenlivet Alpha has been crafted in secret by Master Distiller Alan Winchester at The Glenlivet Distillery in the heart of Speyside and is released with no cask information, tasting notes or age statement. And of which, only 40 bottles are allocated to the Malaysian Market.
Our host for the night, Lionel Lau, (who I found out was the man behind my invitation) enlightened us on some Glenlivet information, and told us that we would be blindfolded, and handed a glass of this mysterious whisky, and we are to use all our other senses to pick up whatever flavours and subtleties we could.
The good thing about using a point and shoot, you can literally point and shoot, even blindfolded, as you can see from my fairly decent blindfolded selfie.
It was all quite fun. We were to hold out our right hand, so that the servers could slide the glass into our hands, and we were to sniff, and twirl, and smell, and sip, .... and give our thoughts. My first thought was, WOW, it's strong! I like.
The food was obviously secondary, and most attention was focused on the star of the night, and the other supporting cast, which were also great.
On a day when the Glenlivet Alpha is not available (read, every day la), these babies would do quite nicely.
By this time, we were privvy to the information that there were only 40 bottles of these, available only for Guardians (you had to sign up and sign in blood to become a guardian), priced at RM868. Of course, the kiasu in me leapt at the opportunity of owning something that only 39 others in Malaysia might own.
Taste wise, it has all the usual spice, fruits associated with a good single malt, but it also packs a punch with its high alcohol content. Well, priced at RM868, I guess it makes sense to reach a high as soon as possible.
Aneeways, look what arrived yesterday, finally....
Beautifully veiled, like a bride (okay, maybe not in black dress.. a merry widow perhaps).... waiting to unveil...
Tah da. Don't be calling ME anytime soon to share this... I am saving it for a VERY special occasion.
I won't bother telling you where to buy it, coz ....smug look, YOU CAN'T!! (well, not from the primary market in Malaysia at any rate).
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