Glenfiddich 18yo.. Outch!

[adrian44]

Received a bottle of ancient reserve Glenfiddich yesterday and..... wow! How could this thing be the best selling whisky worldwide?

It has a good nose, but that is it. Something wierd in the taste that I could not pin point, and total absence of cherry. The finish leaves a very sour taste in the throat too. I would not rate this more than 6.5

Anyone actually like it?

[Deactivated Member]

Sorry to hear that Adrian.
Quite often the first dram out of the bottle is, for some reason, very disappointing. Give it a week or two and try again once the air has had time to work its magic.
Glenfiddich 18 is a good whisky and that's why it's popular. I think it and the 15yo are probably the pick of the more affordable 'fiddichs. I'd be surprised if it continued to disappoint, but if it is not for you then that's just the way of things. Hopefully though, you'll find it to your liking as time goes on.
Slainte

[lexvo]

Yes, you can't discuss personal taste...

Personally, I find the Glenfiddich 18Y quit good and would give it 80 (out of 100).

On the other hand, I tried a bottle of Highland Park 18Y and this one scored 'only' 75 for me. And I know this is a favourite whisky of quite a few people

[Dubois]

I'm very surprised by adrian's reaction.
I think it is a very good whisky that deserves it's good name.
A more than decent dram

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Received a bottle of ancient reserve Glenfiddich yesterday and..... wow! How could this thing be the best selling whisky worldwide?

... because it is nice ..... maybe not earth shaking but NICE

This is not very uncommon with best selling bottles of any kind. Jack Daniels, Jameson, Smirnoff.... these are all top selling bottles in their catageory but would not be considered the greatest. However at the end of the day these bottles reach a broader palate than say a Lagavulin 16 which is considered brilliant by a lot of people but probably too much for the palate of the vast majority of casual scotch drinkers.

[Deactivated Member]

Give Glenfiddich credit for doing a superb job of marketing themselves. This is still a family-owned business, not a division of a multi-tentacled international drinks company. And they've never resorted to cheap, eye-grabbing tactics, either in advertising or in bottling policy. In fact, I wonder how well they are keeping up in these days of Whisky For Dummies and such. (Probably pretty well; it still seems to be true that, in any bar you go to, if they have at least one single malt, they have Glenfiddich.)

[bamber]

I'm always very happy to enjoy a dram of Glenfiddich, even the 12yo, which is someway behind the 15yo, 18yo and the rest IMO.

I think Glenfiddich 18yo is a wonderful whisky and reasonably priced too.

[Lawrence]

I agree with Bamber, it's a great whisky.

[jimidrammer]

I tried a trio of mini's of 12, 15, & 18 yo Glenfiddich awhile back and while mini's are not really enough to get to know a malt very well, my conclusions were: the 12 is just too simple to have any need to keep around. The 15 was nice and I'll probably end up with a full bottle soon. The 18, for it's price range, just has me trying too hard to find something I liked about it. Again, 50ml is hardly 2 seperate sittings to compare notes on, but first and second impressions were nearly identical and there's still so many others to try. No disrespect to anyone who likes the 18 as I know in the back of my mind someday i'll break and buy a bottle.

[adrian44]

Ok, maybe because I liked Highland Park 18 so much and thought that everything should taste the same

I'll wait a few days then try again

[irishwhiskeychaser]

I think every malt should be treated like a different animal. Even different expressions from the same distillery.

[Aidan]

The only Glenfidich I've liked is the Solera Reserve. That's just my taste, though.

[Deactivated Member]

I've had the opportunity to sample the (almost) entire range of Glenfiddich in recent weeks and I am very impressed with it. The bottlings up to 18yo seem very reasonably priced indeed for top quality whisky. I was especially impressed by how diverse the range is, with no two age statements being too similar. If there is a common thread, it would be the sweet and orangey/peary flavours coming through in the 12, 18 and 30. But even these three offer considerable variety.

I've also had the opportunity to try a few of the Balvenies and whilst they are all excellent, although perhaps closer to one another than are the Glenfiddich bottlings.

I have also been impressed by the range of tours that they put on - catering for the novices and the enthusiasts with various lengths of tour and various tasting options at the end. I have had two enjoyable visits and I know I will be back again as I still haven't had the opportuinity to taste directly from the solera vat.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Three cheers for Glenfiddich!

[Aidan]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Three cheers for Glenfiddich!

Nick, one cheer is as much as I can do.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

I've polished off a bottle of the 12yo with a friend and it was pleasent easy drinking. Nice bottles too and stand up to the test of time.

[Deactivated Member]

I personally am not a great Glenfiddich fan, I find the 18 quite drinkable, but not a great.
However, I was very pleasantly surprised recently with the Solera Reserve, that was an excellent dram!

[Mr Ellen]

Neither have I been a big fan of Glenfiddich but I must say I like their 21y. old Havana Reserve (now Gran Reserva) and I find the 15 and 18 year old okay but nothing more than that.
If a Glenfiddich would ever make it to my cabinet it would be the 21y.
I'm quite sure though that there are some great expressions among their older vintages...

Cheers
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Anders