Glenfiddich any good?

[Johnny Dale]

My scotch tastes are sometimes frowned upon due to my experience has been with blended varieties. My two favorites have been Dimple Pinch and JW Gold Label. The only single malt I have tried is Green Label and I did not care for it.

I have not seen many single malts in a pub to really try to experiment.

 

[Greyfox]

The 15 yo is a Solera Reserve. Aged in a sherry cask it is an excellent sherried flavor malt. IMHO it is much better than the rather boring 12.
YMMV.

 

[MrFusion]

Gents, my own tastes may be a bit odd but......

A 15 year old malt does not taste better than it did 3 years before, it just tastes slightly different, and is rarer therefor more expensive.

I don't want to preach but sometimes I get worried when we apply the age and cost of a malt to determine whether it is 'better' than another. Just taste them and make your own mind up. Tamdhu is a fave of mine, it just happens to be cheap and young, and I have tried and enjoyed cask strength 30 year old malts.

Its your choice of course but 12 year old Glenfiddich is a very enjoyable drink, though there are others that I like more, and like I say they can be younger and/or cheaper.

End of sermon

Preach it Brother!

A big +10 for this post.
I have had 12 year old single malts that I though were much better then their 15 and 18 year old counterparts. (And the reverse is true as well).

 

[clubman]

The problem with single malts is that ever since they became "the thing" back in the 80's/90's they unfortunately invite the worst sort of snobbery and airs, aided of course by some great marketing and "whisky experts". There is no such thing as a "starter" malt - it's all whisky!

So what if Glenfiddich is available everywhere? It's good whisky! Especially the Solera Reserve 15. Speaking of those aforementioned "whisky experts", here's what they had to say about this solid dram: http://www.whiskymag.com/whisky/brand/glenfiddich/whisky650.html.

 

[marvin100]

Philamac: I agree. I strongly prefer the Laphroaig 10 to the 15. I still keep a 15 around, mind you, for variety haha (or vanity?)

 

[philamac]

Something that interested me when I heard it......

Apparently when the age of a single malt is given, the age refers to the youngest constituent barrel used in the bottle. So your bottle of 10 year old Glenthingy will contain stuff that was in the barrell for 10 years, but may also contain stuff that is a wee bit or even a lot older. This blending allows the distiller to keep a consistency in their product over the years.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can expand on the mysterious and fascinating art of the master blender?

 

[cangooner]

What's wrong with ice? I've always heard it as scotch on the rocks...

Also, do the years of aging make a huge difference between otherwise identical scotchs or is it slight?

The problem with ice is twofold:
- the cold of the ice stifles the flavour (which can be a good thing with truly bad whisky, but a terrible thing with a good one!)
- the ice melts, watering down your bevvie

Adding just a wee drop of water to your drink releases the flavour without watering it down. This was something I was told while a grad student in Scotland, and since trying it, I haven't gone back to ice. Like anything else, try it out and see which you prefer!

As for Glenfiddich, it's OK but there are many that are much better (in my opinion of course!). The thing about Glenfiddich is that it has long had an extensive and highly successful marketing campaign that has expanded it to a global brand. It's kind of the David Beckham of whiskys: nowhere near the best, certainly not the worst, but made hugely successful through marketing.

If you are starting out, my suggestions would be Dalwhinnie (my all-time personal favourite - it is very smooth and mild), Oban, Talisker, Laphroig (be warned though: Laphroig is very peaty/smoky). Of the brands more readily available in North America, Glenmorangie is a better quality malt than Glenfiddich. Again, in my opinion!

Another option is of course to find yourself a well-stocked bar and do some research!

One last thing: if you are going to discuss single-malt whisky, please stop calling it Scotch! Scotch = blended Scottish whisky. So blends like Famous Grouse & Teachers should be called "Scotch" while single malts like Glenfiddich, Oban, Dalwhinnie, etc are either "malt", "single malt", or "whisky". I'm not hating on blends - I quite like some - it's just that Scotch is a different beast.

 

[_JP_]

My first taste of Glenfiddich was on a trout fishing trip in the mountains. We were camped under some pines next to a stream. The fire was going as dusk settled. Larry pulled out the bottle and passed it over to me to crack open. Oh, the wondrous smell that hit me when I cracked that bottle coupled with the smell of the pines!

The five of us killed it in the next hour and moved on to other spirits.

 

[cangooner]

Mmmm... whisky in the great outdoors...

My favourite memory actually doesn't even involve a Scottish whisky: it was Jamieson Irish whiskey being passed between friends in canoes on a wet, cold, rainy, windy day, paddling the Great Glen in the Scottish highlands. It was wonderful!

 

[FrankPoole]

Affordable good single malt

 

[Seraphim]

Tried a glass of Talisker for the first time in a Bourbon bar in Japan, of all places.

I'm not a single malt drinker, nor afficianado, but that Talisker went down smooth and easy.

 

[Duncan Hill]

Well I tried the glenfiddich 12. It's not bad, that's for sure. But it's a little lacking in oomph in my opinion.

 

[jakko]

Tried a glass of Talisker for the first time in a Bourbon bar in Japan, of all places.

I'm not a single malt drinker, nor afficianado, but that Talisker went down smooth and easy.

wait till you get to the holy grail, lagavulin 18 yo. Smooth as drinking water

keeping it on topic, the solera reserve i feel is much better then the 12yo offering. However, for that price (bevmo selling it at $35), I would go for either the macallan 10, balvenie DW or my current personal fav Highland Park 12yo (sometimes you can get good deals at your local alkie store, I got my highland park with a decanter gift set for $35 in the liquor store by ga tech near the midtown marta station)

 

[Doc4]

Glenfiddich ... I've tried the '12'. I also tried the '12' Glenlivet at the same time, and the Glenlivet is markedly superior. I found the 'fiddich sharper and thinner and the 'livet rounder and fuller and a much more enjoyable bevy.

(I mention these two scotches together as they tend to be the two ubiquitous and relatively inexpensive single malts that just about everyone can lay his hands on. Someone wondering about the 'fiddich is probably looking to make an inexpensive first forray into scotch, and these two will both be options at the store ... get the 'livet.)

 

[boboakalfb]

The Glennfiddich 12 isn't bad. It's a Lighter fruity style Malt, not bad in warmer weather. The Glenlivet 12 is better though, at the same price point.

The Glennfiddich 15 Solera is nice, if you are a fan of Sherried Whisky.

 

[DunEdinRanger]

My scotch tastes are sometimes frowned upon due to my experience has been with blended varieties. My two favorites have been Dimple Pinch and JW Gold Label. The only single malt I have tried is Green Label and I did not care for it.

I have not seen many single malts in a pub to really try to experiment.

Sorry to have to mention this, but the Green Label is not technically a "single malt" as it is a blend of various single malt whiskies without the addition of any grain alcohol. It should properly be called a "Vatted Malt" or a "Pure Malt", at least that is my recollection.

 

[dpm802]

I used to drink Glennfiddich at this one dive bar my friend would drag me to, since it was the only single malt they had. It would invariably make me feel really depressed and tired, and I'd wander out to my car to go to sleep while he continued to party and have fun all night long. This happened every time at this place for about a year, until I figured out it was the Glennfiddich doing it to me.

When I switched to drinking J&B there, no more problems, and I was able to join the fun and keep pace with my friend.

Its probably just me, but I don't like Glenfiddich. I have a bad reaction to it. I'm fine with other Scotches (blends and single malts,) but just this one brand doesn't agree with me.

Don't let my story sway you away ... I'm sure this is a quality whiskey, but it has a negative effect on me.

 

[The Knize]

Sorry to have to mention this, but the Green Label is not technically a "single malt" as it is a blend of various single malt whiskies without the addition of any grain alcohol. It should properly be called a "Vatted Malt" or a "Pure Malt", at least that is my recollection.

Your description of Johnnie Walker Green as a vatted or pure malt, and your description of what a vatted or pure malt is are exactly correct. Apparently the new official term is going to be "blended malt."

Johnny Walker Green is supposedly made up of four of my favorite single malts. (I do not think I have been able to figure out whether it is made up exclusively of those four single malts. I am guessing not.) But, you know, I do not really like it either. Anyone else have that experience with Johnny Walker Green? The Johnny Walker website calls it intriguing harmony. To me the Talisker and Caol Ila are at war with each other, overwhelming the Craggenmore, and the Linkwood is cowering in fear somewhere in the background.

Also, seems to me that Pinch is underrated and under publicized in this country. It is a very nice blended Scotch one rarely reads or hears about in the States.

 

[philamac]

IMO

I suggest shaken for about a minute or more(colder the better) and strained

Ahhhhhhhh no

Joking and being a snob!!!! I do from time to time enjoy a Grouse on the rocks, but the coldness will mean that a single malt will be just that little bit less interesting in terms of flavour and nose.

 

[tblech]

rot gut was my opinion, makes me ill everytime I try it, not sure why...