Review 83: Glenfiddich 15 Yr

Review 83

7/18/12

Glenfiddich 15 Year Old: 40% abv

The next Glenfiddich in our Glenfiddich series, and this time we’ll start talking about how to pronounce Glenfiddich. If you’re saying it like it looks, with a “ch”, you’re saying it wrong. Glenfiddich is pronounced “Glenfiddick”, so now you know. But this is going to be a review of lessons, because there are several things we have never talked about. Let’s start with the oak barrels. The oak used in the production of this whiskey is a combination of sherry oak, bourbon, and new oak. This creates a lot of blends of flavors. 

Secondly, let’s talk about Solera vats. No, Microsoft Word, it isn’t a spelling error. Solera systems are where whiskey gets put in the top while whiskey is pulled out of the bottom of the vat, so there is a constant filter of whiskey, and there’s always a refreshed mix of whiskey in the vat. What does that mean for the taste? We really don’t know. And it really doesn’t matter, because we’re here to figure that out anyway. That’s our Glenfiddich lesson for the day. 

Onto the nose: We get a fruity collage in this whiskey, with red wine, cranberry, maraschino cherries, raspberries and raisons, not to be displaced by the standards of caramel, vanilla, molasses, and maltiness. The nose also contains some powdered sugar to add to the sweetness, but a contrast of lemon that flips the coin in flavor. I’m actually cheating and previewing the 18 Year Old as we speak...Don’t tell. The taste is something else entirely...but not really. Malt is a prevalent part of this whiskey, followed by molasses, barley, saltiness, and caramel. We actually noted a slight peatiness, although it’s only very subtle. There is also cinnamon heat and a tiny bourbon influence in the taste. Overall, it isn’t the most complex Scotch we’ve ever experienced in taste. It is rather dry though. Hell, this might be a shorter review than I thought. The finish is dry, with some major lemon tartness to start, followed by some cherry and lime to boot. The citrus and tart notes get more potent with the addition of water, but you’ll also find some sherry, cinnamon, caramel, butterscotch, salt, and even a slight vegetal quality to the whiskey on the finish. 

We even went so far as to notice slight orange to it. To be honest, this doesn’t take leaps and bounds above the 12 Year Old, but it does make some strides. It might be an “optimistic” score for this one, but we decided this was the most appropriate. 

Score: 9.0/10