July 30, 2015

Glenfiddich NAS, 19 and 1965

We had an oldie at 40% vol. as the aperitif, but since the new ones are bottled at 40% vol. as well, I guess we’d better have the venerable oldie as the last one. Pfff, 40%...

Glenfiddich 'Reserve Cask' (40%, OB, travel retail, 1l, +/-2015)

Reserve Cask (how creative!) is the slightly more expensive version of ‘Select Cask’, which we found underwhelming (WF 77). Travel retail, maybe, but rather Ryanair than Singapore Airlines. But maybe will this humble NAS baby be more to my liking… Colour: full gold. Nose: ale and cider and overripe apples and leaves and caramel at first nosing, then more interesting notes of old Sauternes that went dry. That’s nice! Mouth: very ‘travel retail’. Easy, malty, caramelly (it really feels), all on sponge cake, apple crumble and a bit of sour wood. The mouth feel isn’t big, and that’s an understatement. Finish: very short. Leaves a feeling of earl grey tea as the aftertaste. A little honey. Comments: not bad, but it’s more or less in the same category as Diageo’s entry-level Singletons. These diplomatic juices sure won’t offend any travellers. SGP:441 - 76 points.

Glenfiddich 19 yo 'Age of Discovery' (40%, OB, red wine cask finish, +/-2013)

Red wine cask finish? How very scary. Apparently, they’ve been using South American Bordeaux blend wine casks. Now, the Age of Discovery bourbon and Madeira have been to my liking (both WF 85) so we’ll see what we’ll see… Colour: gold. Good rinsing ;-). Nose: well done! No ‘red wine’, which is cool. I love red wine, but if I need red wine, I drink red wine. Haha. Rather Virginia tobacco leaves, earl grey tea, butterscotch, humus and mushrooms, ripe greengages (which makes it pretty summery, how appropriate), apricots… It’s a very subtle and complex nose, only the lack of watts makes it a little frustrating. Oh and there are funny hints of miso soup and smoked ham. Mouth: another world after the undemanding Reserve Cask. It’s grassier, oakier, grittier, kind of wilder, with a little ginger and green pepper (quite cabernety), then oranges, tea, dried apricots, and ‘ideas’ of smoked ham. It’s light, but it’s not too ‘scrawny’. Finish: short, but with a funny saltiness. Or something that triggers our salt receptor, as some would say. Some tea tannins. Comments: the pedigree was scary, but it was all very all right. The red wine has been kept at bay. SGP:451 - 82 points.

And the old one…

Glenfiddich 12 yo 1965/1977 (80° proof/45.7%, Cadenhead, black dumpy)

Glenfiddich 12 yo 1965/1977 (80° proof/45.7%, Cadenhead, black dumpy) This baby still from the ‘Aberdeen’ W.M. Cadenhead. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how rare indie Glenfiddichs are. Oh and did you notice that it’s not ‘Glenfiddich-Glenlivet’? Colour: gold. Nose: cancel cancel cancel, this is very soapy. It’s liquid soap. Soapier than soap. Yikes! Mouth: no no no no no… And that’s a shame, because any experienced taster would feel that what’s behind all this soap 'could' be of the highest quality. Or not, not too sure. Finish: long and extremely soapy. The dearest son of Mr Palmolive and Mrs Dove. You had thought mid-1980s Bowmores were the soapiest whiskies ever? How wrong you were! Comments: the problem is that this comes from a bottle that’s just been opened, so it’s fully fresh and no tainting could have happened. Seriously, what happened? The old lady’s ‘unlikely tastes’? Dissolved plastic from the cap? Bottle stored in an IKEA warehouse? Simply a fake bottle? Bah, that’s not very important – but I’m glad I could try a very bad, very nasty, and simply horrendous whisky by Cadenhead this summer. Because the recent offerings, well, they don’t seem to be too bad… SGP:190 - 4 points (no, no figure is missing).

Check the index of all Glenfiddich I've tasted so far