Glenfiddich 15 Year Solera Reserve

Nose: Honeyed, toasted cereal grains. Apples, lemons, canteloupe, under-ripe honeydew, berries. Imagine a glass of apple juice next to a fruit salad with a squeeze of lemon. Hershey's process chocolate. Slightly floral, subtly herbs and fresh cut grass. Sweet bell pepper. Oak, with what I think might be barrel char? Palate: The harsher floral characteristics take a back seat to vanilla, honey, and cream. Black pepper, leather, oak, and just a touch of smoke from the barrel. Good tannin, too. Sour green apple, caramel, bitter lemon, bitter chocolate. Reminded of those caramel apple pops I used to get when I was a kid. Baking spices - cinnamon and nutmeg leading the charge. Spicier than I was expecting. Lots of upper-mids going on, a splash of brightness, but not much happening on the lower palate. Mouthfeel is on the medium-light side, though good oil content. Finish: Splash of toasted ground black pepper, sharp floral notes, and a flash of ethanol. Then some big barrel character comes through, along with those baking spices again. Mint, melon, cucumber, and limes pop up and coast out. Under-ripe bananas at the very end. Medium length, learning towards medium-long. Other notes: I've committed to diving more into unpeated scotch. I've had experience with Glenfiddich 12 and Glenlivet 12, but that was a long time ago and well before I was drinking the stuff neat. This is delicious, if more nuanced and delicate than I'm used to. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of punch here, just not in the ways you might expect if you're coming from, say cask strength bourbons. Solid buy. Probably not on the short list for something to buy again, but solid choice either way.