Glenfiddich 14 Year Bourbon Barrel Reserve

Very smooth and perfect flavor

N: Cooked sour apple pie with delicate pie crust notes. Vanilla and caramel, as expected given the barrels. As it opens, you begin to get some lemon, peach, pear, and maybe some other orchard fruit. Bit of ethanol in it that is not overwhelming at any one nosing, but has a numbing effect eventually. P: Sweet caramel and vanilla dipped apple slices. Flash of chocolate and light coffee. A non-distinct orchard fruit floods the palate along with a pumpkin pie spice along the edges of the tongue and little bit of cream in the corners. Woody oak notes lead into the finish which turns somewhat tannic and bitter almost immediately. When that fades out, the oak notes remain and linger. There is surprisingly little heat given the bourbon barrel and fresh char barrel treatment - it's not nothing, but you have to kinda hunt for the cinnamon and cayenne. There may be a dusting of dark chocolate in there, but the finish generally seems to lack dimension. Like the 18 year, I found this to be inoffensive, but a bit lackluster. This one takes more chances than the 18 - the bourbon barrel influence really shows up and steps up - but the overall, walkaway impression for me is "meh." Maybe the Glenfiddich profile just doesn't work for me. _______ A bunch of regular Distiller reviewers are now chatting in real time. Please join: https://discord.gg/crpksjtkMu. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I can get a new one.)

Rich vanilla, butter and corn notes