When you think Glenfiddich, you might cast your mind back to the first bottle of single malt whisky you ever bought. I know I do. I also happen to think of duty free in European airports (alcohol prices in Norway were not conducive to budget living), the late great science fiction author Iain Banks and lots and lots of whisky.
For wherever you go in the world, if there’s single malt, there’s likely to be Glenfiddich. But here’s where it all gets very interesting.
Despite stocking all those duty free and liquor shop shelves with Glenfiddich 12 year (and beyond) and supplying what I can only imagine is a good amount of spirit to the blending cause, Glenfiddich is still a family owned and operated Scottish business.
Swish marketing, a heap of whisky and a family-run business all seems a bit unlikely, so we decided to get ourselves a little sampler pack of what Glenfiddich (complete with a tasting glass, incidentally) has to offer your every day whisky liker, lover, appreciator or guzzler and get down to some whisky business (Tom Cruise pun very much intended).
The first thing to notice is that not only have Glenfiddich made it easy to access a selection of their wares by virtue of giving us three whiskies in one box, but they’ve done so in a very presentable manner.
The rectangular case fans out to display three 200 mL bottles, the 12-year-old in its signature green bottle, the 15-year in a clear one, and the mighty 18-year in a tinted bottle.
All very nice. All very cool, but really, the packaging will only ever be an entree to the main event. Far be it from me to be able to wax lyrical about flavours, the arrival and the various esters I’m getting on the back palate, but here goes nothing…
A wise whisky man (it might have been my Dad?) once told me that you go from the lightest to the heaviest, so let’s start with the 12-year, which is light, fruity, but with a deep maltiness that signifies to me this whisky is improving in quality as the years tick by. My first bottle of the stuff didn’t have that satisfying doughiness that this does, which maybe is a sign of why Glenfiddich are trying to keep things in the family.
The 15? More of the same, but more sugary depth coming in from the extended time it’s had with those bourbon and sherry casks. A rounder, finer experience than the 12, but has a similar gist, if you get my gist.
The 18-year is a different animal altogether. More spice, more deep wood, more Christmas pudding and fruitcake, perhaps with some baked apple as suggested by the packaging. This is a deeply satisfying drop, that sits heavier on the tongue compared to the lightness of the previous two. Very rich, but very delicious.
And we at Lost at E Minor were lucky enough to get our hands on a wee bit of the grand daddy – a 21-year-old Gran Reserva aged in Havana rum barrels, which the aforementioned Iain Banks wrote very favourably of in his book ‘Raw Spirit’.
Now, if you told me that this didn’t taste like fried banana on pancakes, I’d call you a gosh darn liar. But along with that, you get a heap of satisfying molasses and brown sugar notes, and that malty backbone that characterises Glenfiddich malts.
All of the whiskies are tied together by a note of vanilla due to the bourbon casks that each Glenfiddich malt is matured in.
I would submit that if you’re not a whisky person, this ‘Explorers collection’ isn’t a bad introduction to single malt whiskies. And if you’re a bit short and love variety, it will fill that role as well. Just make sure you save buying the Gran Reserva for a special occasion.
Yours in maltiness.
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