Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky – 70cl

Product Information

The Glenfiddich 15 year old is just this sort of whisky, done with sherry, bourbon and new oak casks. This creates an interesting little whisky that contains notes from all of them. That story intrigued me when friend and fellow Connosr member Darren Rook explained it to me from the stand at this years Whisky Live, and after sampling (and enjoying) the dram I bought myself a bottle! It has a reddish gold colour, and on the nose is a combination of sherry, spice, citrus fruits and warmth! It’s much the same when you taste the whisky, with a little more fruit in there, and a woody feeling.

What is quite interesting about Glenfiddich 15, however, is how it's aged. Glenfiddich uses a solera system, like the ones typically used to age sherry, in the production of this whisky- effectively, whisky is stored in such a way as that when some whisky is removed to be bottled, it's replaced by new whisky. You never completely get rid of all the older whisky, and you keep adding new stuff as well, allowing for a mix of characteristics from various ages. It's something that I'd be interested to see explored more, preferably at a higher strength. This is a lovely step up in the fiddich stable, this malt is a mixture of bourbon, sherry and Virgin oak casks mixed into a large vat ( solero vat) this large vessel is never actually emptied. Bottled at 40% which is a great shame because this is stunning at cask strength.. Overall impressions: Diluting with a few drops of water opened up the flavour profile slightly, bringing out subtle tones of toffee, but I prefer it neat (the ABV is low to begin with (40 %); I’d love to sample a cask-strength sample or a dram with a slightly higher ABV). If you want a break from salt and smoke, this expression provides a warm, peaceful, affordable dram. It has slightly more body than a typical Speysider, and offers a pleasant personality. In my local store it is priced higher than the Glendronach 12 YO, and below the Balvenie 12 YO DoubleWood, which is about where it belongs. Taste: Is that...no...still nothing...wait! A tiny bit of honey? I honestly thought this tasted like nothing.Nose: A serious fruit blast at first. Mostly melons and apples -- I sense very little citrus. Settles down after a while into a mellow pound cake with a hint of smoke. This whisky is quite interesting as it’s matured in 3 types of casks (American bourbon, Portuguese sherry and virgin oak), After which the whisky is married in a Solera vat . Previous releases of the Glenfiddich 15 Year Old were labeled ‘Solera Reserve’, meaning the whisky was raised according to the Solera principle. I cannot tell if it was the same with this release. I can tell, however, that it is a damn fine dram.

Warm and buttery in appearance, Glenfiddich 15 appears younger in the glass than one might imagine considering its age.

This 15 year old is matured in American bourbon casks, followed by Portuguese sherry and virgin oak finally it is married in a Solera vat. The nose is gentle, smooth, and quite sweet, with raisins, vanilla, and loads of honey. Gentle spices and apple notes appear as well, but in general the nose is pretty simple.

This really is a lovely dram. It leads with a honeyed, biscuity nose that has just a hint of smoke. The palate is light (this is not a big whisky), with flavours of shortbread, a hint of citrus, more of that smoke and some sherry-like complexity.The finish is sweet (creme brulee)with some maltiness and a crunchy dryness reminiscent of raw grains. This content is intended only for those over the legal drinking age in their country. Please share mindfully. Glenfiddich is one of the most, if not THE most, popular single malts around in terms of pure sales. Whether it deserves this level of popularity or not isn't something I'm going to argue over here, and I definitely try not to let such things sway my opinion either way- a lot of things that sell well are vastly outclassed by some lesser-known offerings, but at the same time it seems a lot of times very popular malts get panned to an extent as being 'too commercial' and the like. I can say that this particular offering, for me, falls somewhere in the middle of those two extremes- it's certainly tasty, and dangerously easy to drink, but at the same time it's certainly not what I'd call thrilling by any stretch of the imagination. Essentially it's the whisky equivalent of comfort food- it's tasty and enjoyable, but it's not impressive or particularly interesting. This would be a great drink to break out and share with some friends and relax with, particularly if they don't all drink whisky often. Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.Palate: Heavier than the 12yr. Smooth, a touch of pepper with dried cinnamon apples, and pears. Creamy honey with a light chocolate taste at the end. Good review, the 15 has many fans, it's the one that often gets reccomended in publications but like many Glenfiddich releases it doesn't fare as well with Connosrs.The abv and chillfiltering are largely at fault. This 15-year old Glenfiddich expression consists of 3 different elements: 1) whiskies aged in ex-sherry casks, 2) whiskies aged in ex-bourbon casks, and 3) whiskies aged in ex-bourbon casks that are then finished for 3-6 months in virgin oak casks. At 15 years old, all of the three are married in a Solera vat. Glenfiddich is crafted using a traditional recipe centered around three main ingredients: water, yeast and malted barley. All produce is chosen carefully and delicately to ensure each dram contains the best single-malt Scotch whisky.