Glenfiddich 30 Year Old

One has to be careful when reviewing the more premium whiskies (and one as popular as this) because their rarity and price inevitably place a bias on your nose and palate. I, therefore, promised my self to be brutally honest and not care about who I hurt in the process.

However, this 30 year old need not have been afraid.

The nose is a beautiful combination of classic Speyside aromas complemented with a confidence that only spending 30 years in a cask can give you. It's like standing in a large kitchen watching desserts being assembled. One pastry chef is layering caramel, butterscotch and toffee in a dish. Another is scraping vanilla pods by his side. Then there is the overflowing basket of almonds, marzipan and a bushel of green apples sitting on the floor. Finally you realize someone just dropped a couple of orange slices on a hot hot grill!

The creamy delivery carries first with it a long sliver of smooth oak lightly dusted with black pepper and cinnamon. Then burnt treacle and light traces of cocoa on the back of honeyed oils get in on the fun. Finally a touch of herbaceous mint in the mix keeps things interesting. Quite a complex palate which needs undivided attention.

The medium oaky finish intertwined with a pleasant after taste of fennel and aniseed round off an extremely satisfying premium whisky experience.

This Glenfiddich 30 Year Old is one of the oldest Glenfiddich I have ever tasted, surpassed only by the Vintage 1973 for La Maison du Whisky, which was very good.

The nose is soft as silk, full and round, jammy and honeysweet. Some nutmeg and a hint of ginger. Nice touch of oak, but not at all oaky. A lot of sherry influence. Seductive.

It is very sweet and fruity, with a slight sourish touch of citrus, but also rich in raisins and figs, pears and honey. Well spiced, wonderful balance, slight smokiness. Great mouthfeel.

The finish is warming on honey and dried fruits.

This is a grand whisky and, in my humble opinion, comes very close to the Vintage 1973. My only complaint, as it were, is that it would do better at higher strength. Originally for sale for around 150 EUR, but today, you may add at least 100 EUR to that. Not cheap, but then this sumptuous whisky is three decades old.

A 30 year old bottling at 40%? that is very disappointing. at this age, and price point one would expect something at least at 46%.

Nose: Takes some time to open up, and you should allow it to rest a bit, and see it change in front of your eyes (nose). Big coconut,perfumed wood, and fruit salad.

Palate: Bigger than the nose suggests, and much better, With Spice, cinnamon,orange peel ginger candy, and banana pie.

Finish: syrup, oak, and sugared apple and pear peel.

This is a very good dram, had it been bottled at say 46%, i am sure it would have been excellent. This is what i expected from a Glenfiddich, and too bad the younger ones do not even come close to this including the 21 yo.

A friend of mine noticed that a local bottle-shop was reducing their whisky range, and a number of whiskies were greatly reduced to clear. Two of which were the Glenfiddich 30 year old and the Glenfarclas 25 year old. The total savings were about AU$300 (across both bottles).

Seeing as I've had a taste of the Glenfarclas 25 year old before, I thought I would open the Glenfiddich 30 year old first.

The first thing I notice is that the whisky looks quite rich and syrupy with very long legs. I guess that's what you get after 30 years of maturation.

The nose is sweet, full of fruit, honey and milk chocolate. And for such gentle 'flavour' types, it's intriguingly strong. It can be sitting on the coffee table three feet from my nose, and it won't be long before I catch a whiff or two. Usually it takes a bit of smoke and peat to do that. It's not overwhelming, or cloying, just easily smelt from some distance away.

The flavour is silkily smooth, with raisins, chocolate and pears. Some cream, honey notes, and a subtle spicy nudge - perhaps ginger and cinnamon? There is barely a hint of oak, and I mean only barely - it took several sips to identify it. This is really easy to drink, and very moreish, which is unusual (for me anyway) in such a sweet whisky. Also fairly complex for what initially seems like a fairly sweet simple malt.

The finish is gentle and unhurried. It doesn't feel long because it is so genteel and civilised, but lasts a number of minutes. Full of fruitiness (mainly pears), milk chocolate and a hint of smokiness.

I wasn't expecting to be blown away by this, but this is definitely a brilliant, light, sweet after dinner dram. Where the Glenfarclas range is heavy rich Christmas Cake, this is a light sweet lemon spongecake. Both are fantastic, but a lot of people struggle with the rich stuff, and this is much easier to drink, but doesn't have quite the same punch. If it weren't so astoundingly expensive, it would be a brilliant 'gateway' malt for getting people into whiskies.

Certainly not value for money, but worth trying once (if you can find it on sale somewhere)!