Remember the Glenfiddich 15 year old (one of the best in their line, by far for me)? You probably know its produced by ways of mixing q lot of casks in a big Solera Vat, right? So, now Glenfiddich took a further step in the Solera way, and built three more Solera vats to host these 3 new whiskies, all married in Solera vats and each differs from the other in profile.
The first in this new line is the ‘Select Cask’ which is a vatting of aged ex-Bourbon casks and some European oak casks, the Second ‘Reserve Cask’ is matured in Spanish sherry casks while the third ‘Vintage Cask’ is again a vatting of aged ex-Bourbon casks and some European oak casks , but contains PEATED whisky!! Let’s get going with the notes:
The Glenfiddich Select Cask, 40%, £40 for 1L (travel retail)
Nose: A very nice nose, with some vanilla, perfumed wood, some pencil boxes,spiced fudge, strawberry toffee candy and a hint of lemon grass.
Palate: Creamy vanilla, candied fruit, citrus rind, strawberry yoghurt, wood spice and wood shavings
Finish: Wood vanilla, and citrus, dry.
A rather nice whisky, with lots of vanilla, and strawberry with enough zest not to make it too sweet. Not ultra complex, but lovely sipping. Available now at travel retail shops worldwide.
Score: 83/100
The Glenfiddich Reserve Cask, 40%, £50 for 1L (travel retail)
Nose: Ripe oranges, citrus, ginger , apple pie, green grass, oak and old school home made candy.
Palate: Spicy, with pepper, and ginger powder on the get go. clove, and cinnamon too with a minty touch, then getting woodier with some sherry effect (spicy sultana).
Finish : Wood spices, oak, ripe orange and sugar with a touch of marzipan too.
Getting better, this one is more intense with the lovely sherry playing first fiddle,and a nice peppery dimension to it too. A bit pricy at 50 quid, but solid stuff. no doubt, Available Now at travel retail shops.
Score: 84/100
The Glenfiddich Vintage Cask, 40%, £80 for 1L (travel retail)
Nose: Oh.. that is indeed an unusual fiddich. peated! starts very briny and coastal indeed, with hints of crayfish,some BBQ fire, extinguished cigar ash, but also fruity and sweet with vanilla, apple and pear drops, no plastic but feels rather young.
Palate: Lovely smoke all over with some creamy vanilla (think crème Brule), again BBQ-ed crayfish in sweet marinade, peat, salty feeling to it as well as sweet, leather and cinnamon. lovely stuff.
Finish: smoke, black tea, wood.
Now that is a really interesting Glenfiddich! A mini Caol-Ila sort of Fiddich, which is a great surprise. Liked it quite a bit, but not sure about paying 80 quid for a peated NAS even if it’s a Glenfiddich… This little cracker is going to be available only next year (around April 2014), and I am quite sure it’s going to be a hit.