Every now and then you get to have something that impresses you. This is one of those times... just as you might start to lose faith in the big, industrialized distilleries you walk into your local shop and taste something like this Glenfiddich Distillery Edition. I did and had to have it immediately.
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Colour: mid-amber with gold highlights
Nose: first thought is, "wow! this is sweet and fruity." Come back to it and I can't really describe what I am smelling. Then, I think to look for ideas and come across "banana skins" in a tasting note. I walk over to the kitchen where there are some nice yellow bananas with some brown spots on the skin and pick one up and literally smell one and then smell the whisky. That's it! Banana skins! No B.S.! Well, I guess B.S. after all because its banana skins. After I get past that, I get sweet raisins - maybe raisin ice cream with some spices. A little water (like 4 drops) opens up the nose and makes things even more discernible. Don't rush this... you can spend a while enjoying the nose.
Palate: again, first thought is fruity with a nice complexity. Sweet. This is a nice, sherried dram. Moves to a spiciness at the back end of the palate. Some vanilla shows up in there along with the fruit. With water, the vanilla is more prevalent. Taking my time, and going back to childhood memories, I think I actually get bananas in cream with raisins. Maybe some field berries in there.
Finish: the intensity of the flavour fades quickly but then lingers and extends at the lower intensity making it all the way down to the belly. This is a long finish.
Comments: This dram is fantastic and a fantastic value. Glenfiddich needs to make more stuff like this - non-chill filtered, more alcohol as required, lots of focus on interesting and big flavours and no industrial tastes. This tastes artisanal but masterfully made at the same time. This is special and makes me think that there might be hope for the corporations yet. I'd like to see Glenfiddich move their whole line to a no-colouring and no-chill filtering style with higher alcohol as needed.
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