Glenfiddich 18 Year

Glenfiddich offers some truly excellent selections. I recently had the opportunity to try their three-bottle tasting set featuring the 12, 15, and 18-year-old core expressions. Naturally, I began with the 18. A distinctly fruity aroma makes you wonder what the taste will be like. The fruit isn't as heavy on berries as one might expect from sherry casks. There's a mouthwatering, almost juicy fruitiness throughout the taste, especially on the finish. Quite intriguing. The initial taste reminds me of toffee. It's quite sweet, but with a slight saltiness. The mid-palate transitions from that toffee blossom into baking spices. Deep, rich spices like nutmeg and cinnamon coat your tongue. These baking spices almost lead you to believe there's nothing more, but wait: the finish allows the fruitiness to emerge gradually. A few seconds after swallowing, the fruitiness fully blossoms, singing of pears and berries. The finish is long-lasting, sweet, and fruity. This particular expression is a bit too fruit-forward for my preference. I generally favor sweeter, chocolatier, and maltier profiles. However, it's not bad at all, considering it's a core Glenfiddich selection readily available year-round. A good choice for the holidays.

The characteristics are similar to my previous tasting on 6/1/22. The nose is unmistakably sherry-finished, with notes of spice cake, dates, pomander, and cool sassafras. The palate has a light glycerin feel, with vanilla appearing, and it finishes with a bit of pepper and more vanilla and chocolate. This is a good, readily available whisky, and it's much less expensive than Macallan 18 (Glenfiddich 18 can be found for around $125, while Mac 18 costs over $300). But why include E105a coloring? Why chill filter it? If a whisky is aged for 18 years, why not be more authentic? Would I purchase it again? Yes. Glenfiddich has a long heritage, and in the 1960s, it was one of the first distilleries, if not the first, to offer single malts instead of blends. It drinks well and is affordable compared to other 18-year-old Scotch whiskies. It is chill filtered. (Batch #3958)

Completing a bottle from 2019, I realized I hadn't reviewed this dram. This bottle has remained nearly half full for two years; the palate has mellowed somewhat but remains quite pleasing. The aroma: A harmonious blend of sweet fruit with toffee and honey. I detect notes of apple and pear, along with some raisin and apricot. A subtle oak note is present, though it takes time to emerge. I find this aroma very delightful! I allowed my glass to breathe for 45 minutes. The taste: sweet leather! Some of the softer flavors I recall have diminished over the years. I remember tasting more fruit and baked crumble, but now I detect leather varnish with a hint of chili and cherry. The texture is medium-thick, like butter, and it goes down smoothly like Wagyu. Considering I first opened this bottle almost 4 years ago, I am very impressed with how it has held up. The palate is refined and complex, with an aroma I'd love to luxuriate in.

There's an undeniable special quality to drinking a spirit aged for 18 years; time is irreplaceable. While the Macallan 18 is an iconic, benchmark sherry-influenced scotch, this expression is its smaller, admired, yet less refined sibling. It has a clear, deep amber color. The nose offers notes of dried apricots, apple skins, orange oil, nutmeg, and a faint hint of cool sassafras, with a light sherry presence. The finish features gentle spice, milk chocolate, and lingering leather and vanilla. It's smooth, balanced, restrained, and pleasant to drink. 43% ABV (the distiller's site incorrectly states 40%). (Batch #3958) Note: All spirits were tasted neat in a Glencairn glass.

Nose: heavily fruit-forward with apple, pear, golden and dark raisins, apricot, dried candied fruits, a whisper of sherry, a touch of oily citrus, honey, buttery toffee, vanilla, baking spices, and toasted malted cereal – a truly vast array of aromas to discern. Taste: a pleasant oily coating and mouthfeel, rich fruitiness, mild nuttiness, gentle oak barrel spices, baking spices, a hint of leather on the finish alongside what seems like pipe tobacco smokiness; the finish evolves and changes beautifully as it fades. A superb scotch that is practically liquid fruitcake. In my opinion, it's worth it.

Aroma: cake with spices and malt, featuring honey and mild raisins. Palate: robust sweet malt and brown sugar with honey and dense figs. A grassy, spicy finish with hints of nutmeg and cinnamon. Peaches and apples slowly become more prominent. Quite standard and a solid example of its type.