Glenfiddich 12 Year Old

These are notes from a tasting a while ago. I still stand behind them

Nose: Lemon grass and peaches immediately jump out. I am surprised at how fruity this is: peaches, melon, kiwi, and bananas! I expected the grassy dry thing . . . but not fruit-topia.

Taste: Fruity, dull, watery, and . . . off-ness.

Finish: Short little blip with a slight burn. Maybe a whisper of peaches as an “after breath”? Way too short for a single malt in my opinion.

Balance, Complexity: Very little balance with peaches taking over. There was some hope for a nice fruit cornucopia from the nose . . . but it didn’t carry over in the mouth.

Aesthetic experience: Nice golden amber. I don’t like the bottle shape (although it is distinctive) and I hate the 40% ABV. If Glenfiddich doesn’t catch up . . . The body was almost water-like (not something you want in scotch). Sure Glenfiddich is the single malt responsible for promoting the concept of single malts . . . but this 12yo leaves a lot to be desired.

Conclusion: I really appreciate all that Glenfiddich has done to promote drinking single malts. It was the lone standard back in the day. But sadly it doesn’t seem to be keeping up with the times in its regular line expressions. Glenfiddich built their reputation on the 8 year old. I would LOVE to see a nod to that. Bring out an 8 year old Cask Strength ‘Fiddich. Now that is something I would respect and buy.

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