Review 87: Glenfiddich 18 Yr

Review 87

6/30/12

Glenfiddich 18 Year Old: 43% abv

I know what you’re thinking: Oh boy. Good old KCM told us that higher percent alcohol content means more flavor, and nicer whiskey and we’ll love this one. And you’re probably thinking also: oh, this is OLDER and it looks DARKER, so it must be BETTER. Well, you are wrong on all accounts. Yes, higher alcohol content is generally associated with more flavor and complexity, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be true. There is a lot of stipulations to generalization about alcohol, so don’t be fooled. 

Secondly, there is an assumption that darker whiskey is always going to taste better than lighter whiskey. This is also not true. Most companies will put caramel colorant (don’t get excited, it’s flavorless) in their whiskeys, because they “know” you’re stupid and will buy it for just that reason. Finally, there is no rule that says older whiskey is better whiskey. Older whiskey is just that; older. So it is different. As whiskey ages more, it starts to lose the characteristics of the spirit and gain the characteristics of the wood. Don’t assume your money is well spent. And that brings us to this review. The more expensive, older of the Glenfiddich range, and therefore the better one. And we plan on proving that in our notes. 

This one is a Single Malt Scotch aged in Oloroso Sherry casks and Bourbon casks. The nose on this sucker will give you some fruity notes of blueberry and light ripe banana, but primarily gives you those classic notes like caramel, vanilla, slight maltiness, with the addition of more rare notes of butterscotch and cloves. Ahh, you see! That whole introduction about horrible whiskey was all a facade! No...it wasn’t. 

The taste can be depicted as flat and dull. It is a malty whiskey, with a large saltiness in the body, a little bit of black licorice, slight tartness, and this inexplicably artificial cherry taste. It is a sweet cherry, but like cough syrup artificial. Not okay. That’s all we really got out of it. The finish doesn’t get better. The salt dominates, with cherry and honey, slight maltiness, and a tiny hint of sherry at the end. The finish is medium-short, which I’m okay with, because I wasn’t missing much. Sorry, we wanted to like this whiskey, but it doesn’t pull through, and we wouldn’t waste the $80 it costs to get this. Highly UNrecommended. 

Score: 6.0/10