Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Distillery Edition

This is it: the whisky I've been searching for. Like a woman, you never know where you will find the malt of your dreams; I certainly never expected to find it in the Glenfiddich lineup.

After adding a splash of water, the aroma is pure heaven. Chocolate-orange, hinting at banana (thanks to Jim Murray for that reference), with just a slight, oily nuttiness. Perhaps not the most complex nose you'll come across, but the depth and balance are near perfect. I find it much more expressive in a brandy snifter than a Glencairn glass, incidentally.

The Scotch has a fairly rich body as it unfold across the tongue with sweet malt, sherry, and tingling oak. The arrival is Glenfiddich in concentrate form, reminding me just why this distillery enjoys such immense popularity. Snobs will claim it is because the taste is "simple"; but really it is because the stuff is damn good. If there is any peatiness present, I don't detect it at all, but who cares? The malt, oak, and sherry do such a lovely dance on their own. A dusting of cocoa rounds things off nicely.

The finish gradually dries but maintains some of the sweetness of the initial malt surge. No undue bitterness at all, just a nice, gradual fade consistent with all the flavours, a pleasant memory of the sip I just had.

Well, what can I say? This malt pushes all the right buttons for me. It exceeded even my highest expectations by a mile. The extra strength and non-chillfiltering does great justice to the Glenfiddich house style, apparently. Worth a second look from anyone who has already dismissed 'Fiddich. For fans of the 12-year-old, this should be a real treat.

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