Review 89: Glenfiddich 21 Yr

Review 89

7/15/12

Glenfiddich 21: 40% abv

Well, here’s the conclusion, about a month later. You must understand, I’ve been very busy, as my car has exploded on me and I spent most of last week acquiring a new car. Glenfiddich doesn’t care about that though. What they care about is a redemption after their 18 year flop. And they’ll get that. Not to give any spoilers, but this is much better than last time. The 21 takes a completely different approach, using Caribbean rum casks instead of sherry and bourbon casks, which is good. That mixes up their lineup a little more. Not that you’ll ever buy this, because it’ll cost you too much just to finance this bottle. 

Okay, so onto the bottling itself. Obviously, at 21 years old, this is an old whiskey, but maybe not as old as you’d think. Some experts say that these spirits reach maturity at 25 years of age. What do we think about this particular one? Well let’s talk about it. You’ll not be able to tell, but there was some slight sediment in the bottle when we were drinking it. That might suggest they didn’t over filter it, but that’s just a guess. 

The nose is defined and easy, containing the standard malt flavors, malt, caramel, etc. But more importantly, there is a slight graininess of wheat, coupled with some hints of hay and oak. There are many fruity notes, including over-ripe apple, slight pear, light lemon, ripe banana, and maraschino cherries. There is hints of toffee, pine scent, and after water, even some fresh mint. We were pleasantly intrigued by the complexities of the nose, although it didn’t have the full-bodied nose that we come to love. 

Continuing on with the taste, we found a prominent syrupy texture and taste, which was unique to the Glenfiddich line. Once again, probably thanks to that rum-like background, we see ourselves visiting fruity flavors. Aforementioned flavors include cherry in the body, green apples, and lemon. The maltiness is still there, but the spicy notes come out more, including ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. There are more unique flavors, with some sweet honey smoothing out this whiskey. After water, you might even find something resembling the taste of cookie dough. Like I said, this is unique, and not in a bad way. 

The finish won’t disappoint, sticking with the common themes mentioned before, but pulling out some molasses, hay, tobacco, agave, blackberry, powdered sugar, slight briny salt, and parsley. So this particular whiskey wins points on uniqueness. Water will also pull out the rum like flavors from the whiskey, and even at 40%, it takes water alright. Not really what I’d say worth the buy, but it certainly does alright, and proves to be complex and well rounded. 

Score: 9.0/10