Glenfiddich 21 Year Old Gran Reserva Rum Cask Finish

Introducing Glenfiddich would be somewhat silly, no? It is only one of the best known whiskies in the world. So let us get straight down to tasting this 21 Year Old. After maturing for over two decades on bourbon casks, it was finished for a period of 5 to 9 months on rum casks from Sancti Spiritus near the Sierra del Escambray in Cuba. You will pay a little over 100 EUR for a bottle. I tried the older version already, which was then replaced by the Gran Reserva, but by now is again simply labelled 21 Year Old. I scored this sample at the Whisky Festival in Ghent.

It sports a very sweet nose (hey, what did you expect?) with juicy fruit. Banana, pineapple, oranges, litchee, plums and apricots. Wow, this is very fruity. Hints of flowers, vanilla and cedar wood.

Very creamy and spicy (ginger, pepper, but also some cinnamon) with a lot of drying oak on the palate. Not too dry, though. Gingerbread. Oranges and pear. Banana again. Touch of leather. Some mint gives it a fresh touch.

On the finish, the oak does get a bit loud.

Despite the somewhat drying finish, this is better than the 2010 release that I tried before. The rum did its job, without being too prominent.

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