The Glenlivet Bothy beckons for a stunning sojourn into Scotch whisky history at The Five, Bukit Damansara

A Scottish mountainside cottage in the middle of Bukit Damansara?

Perched on The Five, The Glenlivet Bothy is now open everyday, 4pm-11pm, only until 6 August 2023, giving us a glimpse into the past, present and perhaps future of The Glenlivet.

The Glenlivet Bothy is modelled after the rustic, remote shelters where The Glenlivet's founder, George Smith, pioneered his risky, tradition-bucking craft two centuries ago.

Inside, an immersive experience beckons - register for a time slot to visit The Glenlivet Bothy at www.diineout.com/theglenlivet or purchase a ticket that includes a tasting of the new limited-edition expression, The Glenlivet 12 Year Old Licensed Dram, and a special cocktail capsule created exclusively for this event.

Tickets for the full tasting experience are available at RM88 from the Official Pernod Ricard Malaysia Shopee Store. Or purchase a bottle of The Glenlivet 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old or Founder’s Reserve from the official Shopee store, Diineout, or Qra at The Five to receive a complimentary ticket for the full tasting experience, as well as the chance to personalise the bottle label with your name or initials.

To help celebrate, various restaurants and bars at The Five are now offering pairing menus, tasting flights and cocktails that shine the spotlight on this award-winning Scotch whisky.

From the parking lot of The Five, you'll easily spot The Glenlivet Bothy, two floors up. To reach the The Glenlivet Bothy, head to the main hall on the first floor and follow the trail.

The Glenlivet Bothy honours the heritage of the brand and its founder - its first room provides visual and video peeks into how George Smith broke conventions with The Glenlivet's floral, fruity style of single malt Speyside Scotch whisky in the 1820s, illicitly distilling in rebellious secret in his own bothy, hidden from the watchful eyes of soldiers and customs officers.

Colourful corners inside The Glenlivet Bothy promise plenty of Instagram-worthy moments. Don't miss this opportunity, since The Glenlivet Bothy only runs for nine days!

Guests can explore the distinctive, delightful scents of The Glenlivet's key whiskies, potently perfumed in their alluring aromas, evoking everything from summer meadows to pineapples and pressed apples, spicy and woody or creamy and sweet.

With the full tasting experience, The Glenlivet Bothy culminates in a flight of tastings, comprising The Glentlivet 12 Year Old, the limited-edition The Glenlivet 12 Year Old Licensed Dram, as well as The Glenlivet Cocktail Capsule (conceived by The Five's Rakh culinary cocktail bar for this event).

The Glenlivet whisky cocktail capsules comprise three flavours: Paloma is light and refreshing, featuring grapefruit soda made with grapefruit skin, blended with jalapeno water; Penicillin is mildly spicy with Bentong ginger, with the sweet-sour balance of raw honey and mango shrub; while the Old Fashioned conveys undulating umami with Asian-inflected ingredients of Glenlivet-infused sesame oil, gula melaka and soy sauce.

At a preview of The Glenlivet Bothy, Brand Ambassador Nicole guided us through The Glenlivet 12 Year Old (notable for its Scottish pineapple notes, opening up for a floral, citrusy brightness that's reminiscent of lemons and mango), The Glenlivet 15 Year Old (a rare French oak reserve that's a firm favourite among The Glenlivet's fans, deep gold with smoky nuances of burnt butter and roasted chestnuts) and The Glenlivet 18 Batch Reserve (indelibly indulgent, silky with the bittersweet depth of dark chocolate, elegant for milestone occasions).

For many, the most exciting star might be The Glenlivet 12 Year Old Licensed Dram, which heralds how The Glenlivet became the first officially licensed Scotch whisky distillery. Matured in a mix of American and European first fill oak casks, this channels the intensity of cooked fruits like apple and apricots, with a malty caramel aroma.

In conjunction with The Glenlivet Bothy, many restaurants and bars at The Five are hosting special tasting experiences, including the red-hot modern Indian restaurant Jwala.

The media pairing kicked off with lively condiments of mint coriander and papaya relishes, paving the path for an amuse bouche of crackly potato spears sprinkled with peri peri sauce, crowned with yogurt, mint and tamarind, and the Jhinga La La, a playfully spicy flavour bomb of a whole tiger prawn with mustard, yogurt, dried seaweed, salted plum and chilli oil.

For this preview, Jwala paired The Glenlivet 12 Year Old with its Angaar - the Scotch was a stimulating counterpoint for the tender chicken thigh, deliciously dynamic with fennel seeds, spicy onion and spinach floss.

The Nihari and Dal Jwala are among the highlights of Jwala's pairing menu for the public - lamb cooked with seductive spices and screwpine essence, with the meat's heat persisting on the palate, complemented by black lentils and San Marzano tomatoes cooked overnight on mangrove charcoal, complete with a flaky layered tandoori croissant with a pronounced chew.

These are paired with The Glenlivet 15 Year Old, with buttery hints of almond that hold up magnificently to a full-flavoured dish. A palate cleanser of sun-dried lemon balls with popping candy and liquid nitrogen revives the taste buds for the next course.

Jwala's flagship Awadh Dum Biryani is also part of The Glenlivet public tasting experience - a pot sealed with wheat flour dough is broken open to release complex aromatics of steamed long-grain basmati rice in a medley of brown, white and saffron, laced with superbly succulent spring chicken for spoonfuls of sheer bliss with garlic yogurt raita and roasted cumin powder.

For biryani this brilliant, The Glenlivet 18 Batch Reserve is the exquisite pairing, crescendoing in a warming, nectarous maturity with plush bursts of orange and toffee. 

We wrapped up this wonderful pairing with the Phirni Panna Cotta, a saffron-scented rice pudding with cardamom, wedded with The Glenlivet 12 Year Old Licensed Dram, delicate with a finish of ginger and anise. 

Other participating outlets at The Five comprise:

Rakh 
The Glenlivet Culinary Cocktail Experience, including Number 12 (The Glenlivet 12 Year Old,with apple, cinnamon and fireball bitters)

Seed by Whitegrass 
The Glenlivet Pairing Dinner Menu, including a choice of five-course or eight-course French-Japanese meals, paired with The Glenlivet 15 Year Old or The Glenlivet 18

Mano 
The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve-infused Dessert and Cocktails

Ling Long
The Glenlivet 15 Year Old-Infused 7-Day Aged Duck with complimentary dram of The Glenlivet 15 Year Old 

Here & Now 
A flight of three The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve cocktails that represent the future, as well as The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve Highball tap voucher redemption

Bā by 61M
The Glenlivet Whisky Flight - The Glenlivet 12, 15, and 18 Year Old

Fun fact: Customers who fully immerse themselves in The Glenlivet experience can redeem stamps for rewards, which lead up to in a bottle of The Glenlivet 12 Year Old!

The Glenlivet Bothy

The Five, Kompleks Pejabat Damansara, Jalan Dungun, Bukit Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur.
Daily, 4pm-11pm until 6 August 2023