The best Glenfiddich

[heatmiser]

Up until a two weeks ago I had only tried the 12 & 18 year Glenfiddich. I did not like the 12 but thought the 18 was very good. I ran across a bottle of their 15 year Solera Reserve at a local liquor store on sale for $29 so I decided to buy one. Whoa! This is really, really good! I went back and bought 6 more bottles at that price. I like it better than the 18 year and has replaced Dalwhinnie 15 as my new favorite scotch whisky...

[les taylor]

Of the expressions listed the 18 yearold for me. The 12 year old is quite good dry ginger and ice.

[DramMeister]

Up until a two weeks ago I had only tried the 12 & 18 year Glenfiddich. I did not like the 12 but thought the 18 was very good.

Me too.
This week I tried the Solera Reserve 15 and Gran Reserva 21. I think I'd put the 15 top now above the 18, a very nice dram. The Gran Reserva was quite disappointing.
I didn't get round to the Caoran 12. It's always intrigued me, but I have rarely heard anyone say anything good about it. I think I'll look out for it in a bar. I daren't risk a whole bottle.

[TheLaddie]

The Solera Reserve is the only Glenfiddich I've bought a second bottle of since I discovered other malts. I haven't had the pleasure of the 30yo though.

[Jan]

I have only tried the standard nas/12yo and the 30yo.

But it seems I will have to give the 15 yo a try in the near future

[Ian Millar]

I obviously drink a lot of Glenfiddich and my favourite by far is the 15 year old Solera, great depth, lots of flavour and extremely pleasant and also very accessible from a price perspective.

[UUNetBill]

I've not had the 30, but I have had the others, and to my surprise, I found the 15 to be the best of the lot. It has more depth and character than the others, IMHO.

[les taylor]

I obviously drink a lot of Glenfiddich and my favourite by far is the 15 year old Solera, great depth, lots of flavour and extremely pleasant and also very accessible from a price perspective.

Welcome to the forums Ian. We're looking forward to our tastings with you. Thanks to Matt I have all samples ready for the off on saturday.

[Ryguy]

I obviously drink a lot of Glenfiddich and my favourite by far is the 15 year old Solera, great depth, lots of flavour and extremely pleasant and also very accessible from a price perspective.

Ian, I'm really looking foward to having you around for the Tasting on Saturday!! That was great news! I have several samples ready for the tasting, and I can't wait to explore Glenfiddich more.

Welcome to the Forums!!

[Deactivated Member]

Nice to see so many familiar names from the past

For me, the Solera wins every time. It is sublime straight from the Solera vat at cask strength.. Yum

I've tried a fair few GFs, 12, 15, 15 cask strength, 18, 21, 30, 40, 50....1971 vintage and a couple more from the cask on various tours.... but would still have to go for the Solera...every time...

Cheers
Susan

I agree, absolutely. The 15 straight from the solera vat is sublime - cool, rich, syruppy, toffee, fruity, chocolatey...

I've had a great many Glenfiddichs of all ages, and the 15 Solera vat is a class act. But there is a great deal of class in most of the 'Fiddichs I've had. The fruitiness - melons and pears - in the 30. The sweet chociolate in the 18. The smoke and grassiness of some of the really old vintages.

Brian Kinsman gave us a great opportunity this year at Spirit of Speyside to taste the raw ingredients of the 15 - that's a 15 from a sherry cask, from a refill cask and from a local wood if I remember correctly. They are decanted into the solera vat - a huge, huge tub, and left to infuse with the rest of the whisky there. The vat is never less than half full, so some of the whisky in there (and I know I have argued against articulating this...) has been in since the beginning. So we tried the ingredients, went off to the solera warehouse (minding the oystercatcher's nest) to take sips from a flask drawn straight from the vat. Then back to the Robbie Dhu centre to try 3 single cask whiskies that were over 30 years old to decide whether they were good enough to be blended into the 30yo. They were all good enough, but it was striking just how different they were.

[les taylor]

Nick you've made me want to get a bottle of Solera for Saturday. Nice signature by the way as well.

[bamber]

I can't help but feel I got it wrong when I said I preferred the 18yo

[Deactivated Member]

I don't think you got it wrong - just a different choice to some others.

I wwonder who might have voted for the 12 yyear old.

[Ganga]

Ok, I've had 'em all plus the newer versions of the 12 and 15 plus the 15 CS.

Favorite by a long ways is the 30 yo and I'm working on picking up a bottle. It's the 15 but much bigger. My second choice isn't on the list: the 15 CS at 51% available at through duty free. The 15 CS is the same basic profile as the 15 (no, mine is not called the Solera anymore) but is much more exuberant because of the extra proof.

My least favorite is the 21 Gran Reserva rum finish followed by the 18 and the 12 Special Reserve and NAS Special Reserve. I find the newer 12 (no longer called Special Reserve) to be delightfully fruity instead of heavily malty.

Anyone tried any of the older limited edition ones? I know of a 33 yo and I think there's a 31 yo. What about the 40 yo?

[Ganga]

I don't think you got it wrong - just a different choice to some others.

I wwonder who might have voted for the 12 yyear old.

Nnot mee. I went 30 yo all the way even at $250 vs $35 (for the 15).

[Ganga]

I can't help but feel I got it wrong when I said I preferred the 18yo

Best is not the best term. Remember this is a very subjective subject and mostly we're dealing with opinions.

[bamber]

I don't think you got it wrong - just a different choice to some others.

I wwonder who might have voted for the 12 yyear old.

They proablyy note that all the expressionss just taste of whiskyy, so went for the cheapest one.

[Deactivated Member]

Anyone tried any of the older limited edition ones? I know of a 33 yo and I think there's a 31 yo. What about the 40 yo?

I tried a 1966 and 1955 at the 2006 Spirit of Speyside (thanks to Ian Millar). At the time both were unbottled. The 1966 was light gold in colour, and the 1955 was evel lighter. Both were much grassier than the more recent Glenfiddichs and slightly smoky (especially the 1955). You could taste the countryside - hay, silage, etc. They were very interesting, and you had a feel for a distillery that was producing agricultural product rather than refined, consistent fruitiness.

Brian Kinsman gave us three unbottled vintages this year that were over 30 - I think the oldest was 34, but I'd need to check my notes. From memory two of them were sweet and fruity, and one was rather sharp, lemony and varnishy. That was the one I liked the best, but probably the one that least fitted the 30yo profile. Brian made the point that the final product is a blend of all the different flavours, and the trick was to understand what each cask would add to the mix, which ones would fill gaps in the profile, etc.

[Ganga]

Very good reminder Nick. The standard range of products are a produced product by the master blender. My hats off to the nose that made the 30 yo Glenfiddich.

[I_SPEY]

I vote for the Glenfiddich Solera Reserve 15 years . I remember, when I first had a Glenfiddich, a long time ago, I found it a very lovely, easy whisky.
Glenfiddich is just a good distillery

[I_SPEY]

I think I'll answer on Sunday

May I ask why on sunday, Nick?

[I_SPEY]

Because we have a live tasting on Saturday Rene!

Sorry, Nick, I didn't noticed that.

[Ryguy]

Because we have a live tasting on Saturday Rene!

Sorry, Nick, I didn't noticed that.

I-SPEY, try and join us if you can! More people the better!

[I_SPEY]

Because we have a live tasting on Saturday Rene!

Sorry, Nick, I didn't noticed that.

I-SPEY, try and join us if you can! More people the better!

Sorry, Ryan, other obligations

[andyt]

I too shall reserve judgement till Sunday, I hope to have samples of the Solera & CS to add to my drams.

[Ryguy]

I-SPEY, no problem. There is always next time!

[Ganga]

No need for me to reserve judgment as I inspected many of these about two-three weeks ago. Quality control for Ryan, ya know. Also had the thirty about 2 months ago.

[Ryguy]

Ganga, I'm looking foward to the tasting. I haven't even as much as nosed the samples, although I've been very tempted.

[Muskrat Portage]

My favorite is :
GLENFIDDICH CS 15 yo. Sadly it was drained in 2006 and there's been no replacement on the horizon.

CS 15.JPG

It was my first new years eve bottle in 1998-9 that I started the "new bottle for the New Year" tradition with. Looking for the next bottle developed into the serious collection I now own. Up until then it was just pick out whatever was on the shelf and drink it.

Muskrat Portage

[Knolly]

Nice to see so many familiar names from the past

I agree, absolutely. The 15 straight from the solera vat is sublime - cool, rich, syruppy, toffee, fruity, chocolatey...

I've had a great many Glenfiddichs of all ages, and the 15 Solera vat is a class act. But there is a great deal of class in most of the 'Fiddichs I've had. The fruitiness - melons and pears - in the 30. The sweet chociolate in the 18. The smoke and grassiness of some of the really old vintages.

Brian Kinsman gave us a great opportunity this year at Spirit of Speyside to taste the raw ingredients of the 15 - that's a 15 from a sherry cask, from a refill cask and from a local wood if I remember correctly. They are decanted into the solera vat - a huge, huge tub, and left to infuse with the rest of the whisky there. The vat is never less than half full, so some of the whisky in there (and I know I have argued against articulating this...) has been in since the beginning. So we tried the ingredients, went off to the solera warehouse (minding the oystercatcher's nest) to take sips from a flask drawn straight from the vat. Then back to the Robbie Dhu centre to try 3 single cask whiskies that were over 30 years old to decide whether they were good enough to be blended into the 30yo. They were all good enough, but it was striking just how different they were.

Hey Nick:

Totally cool post and I completely agree with it (like most people here!): of the standard bottlings, the 15YO is definitely the winner for me. And, while I don't agree with everything that Jim Murray writes, I totally agree with his comments about the 15YO in his Whisky bible.

Last fall, I had the very fortunate experience to be invited to a small tasting (about a dozen people) that involved six different 1976 Glenfiddich single cask samples, hosted by none other than Peter Gordon. The tasting was for a cask buy for a liquor and wine store; they had bought two previous casks (a 1974 and a 1975) for each of the two previous years.

The six whiskies were amazingly different; definitely Glenfiddich, but very, very different. A couple of them didn't do much for me at all. Two of them were definitely good and had all of the characteristics of a good aged whisky, but were not exceptional.

The remaining two were really solid though. One was a bit "different' and I don't remember exactly what it tasted like - this was 7 months ago! - but definitely interesting enough to be bottled as a single cask whisky. However, it might be just a bit too "weird" for the average whisky drinker. The other cask - the one that the store picked - was absolutely awesome and I seriously considered buying it, though in the end I bucked up for a different bottle in the same price range that was just a bit more to my liking (a Tullibardine).

Like a lot of people, the first singlemalt that I tried was Special Reserve. I didn't mind it, but it really didn't do much to get me into Whisky (that took Lagavulin 16). I just "assumed' that Glenfiddich equaled mass produced whisky aimed at the lower part of the market. The single cask tasting really changed my opinion of this distillery: and now I recommend the 15YO to a lot of friends. The 15 YO Solera is a bottle that I keep readily in stock: it's highly approachable and a great "starter" whisky for friends new to single malts and yet has enough depth and complexity to satisfy the serious aficionado.

It's an excellent product and an excellent value as well - I hope that Glenfiddich keeps this gem exactly as it is - cheers!

[Deactivated Member]

It's an excellent product and an excellent value as well - I hope that Glenfiddich keeps this gem exactly as it is - cheers!

Yes - but the cask strength version straight from the vat is even better. It's a genuine world-beater.

[Deactivated Member]

There are rumours that the bottle your own stuff at the distillery is the uncut Solera.

[vengey]

This forum could become an expensive hobby for me. I didn't vote, purely because I have only tried the 12 YO and the 18 YO. Didn't think much to the 12 YO, still enjoying the 18 YO.

However, I'm starting to think I should buy a 15.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

I don't think you got it wrong - just a different choice to some others.

I wwonder who might have voted for the 12 yyear old.

That was me just acting the dick and feeling sorry for the 0 votes the 12yo got ....

I was not going to vote as I've only had the 12yo but then again if that was the only one I had it has to be my favorite fiddich so far

[les taylor]

Adrian thats brilliant. I wondered if anyone would own up. In all fairness it's a top selling malt by quantity so someone has to like it.