Glenfiddich 15 Year Solera Reserve

On the heels on my review of the 12 year, I think now is a good time to tackle its older brother. The 15-year Solera. On an interesting concept; as a result a good portion of this juice is well older than 15 years old. Ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, virgin oak. Let's check it out. Nose: Heavy vanilla, caramel, and orange citrus. Honey, toffee, ginger, and oak. Classic Fiddich apple, pear, and apricot, kiwi, and floral notes. Graham cracker and walnut. Some golden raisin and white grape, but otherwise, not a huge sherry presence. Maybe a bit of cranberry. The Bourbon cask definitely exerts the most prominent influence on the nose. I read French Toast on the internet. Not my note, but it it's undeniable that's there. Good start. Palate: It's a fruit bowl. Apple, pear, orange, plum, apricot, golden raisin, fig, date, cranberry, white and red grape. A lot going on there. A bit of cola and some chewy caramel. I'm getting some those raspberry-flavored Valentine's chocolates (don't even know what else to call it). Big toffee, big malt, plenty of vanilla and oak. The sherry and bourbon oak share the load this time around. I've got little experience with Virgin Oak, so I'm going to leave that out of my analysis. Good stuff. Finish: Some dark fruit (cranberry, date, fig, raisin), coupled with vanilla and toffee. More of the apple, pear, and kiwi. A bit of a cinnamon and oak kick. It's somewhere between short and moderate length, leaning toward the latter. Not all that long, but there's plenty of complexity while it lasts. Another 4 star outing for Glenfiddich. To me, they offer a very consistent product. But as long as they're bottling at 40%, they'll never crack the threshold that divides very good and great. The 14 remains the best of the age-stated GFs I've tried, and, no coincidence, it's bottled at 43%. Honestly, I think all of these could use a 3% bump to really achieve their potential. While they cut corners on the proof here, they certainly did not hold back on the aged-stock. The Solera aging method works wonders here. It's a refined yet flavorful expression; I think the interplay between multiple generations of malt makes for a fantastic product. Great job here Glendfiddich; I doubt you'll ever increase the ABV on your products because, ultimately, the bottom line rules. So I've heard. At any rate, thanks for a solid bottle.

Apple juice and raisins. The unique Solera maturation produces a very smooth, balanced, and easy sipping sherry-cask scotch. I will always keep a bottle of this on my shelf, because it reminds me of what I was looking for in an ideal sherried whisky when I first started my scotch exploration. There's none of the sulfur elements or heavy wood presence, to detract my attention away from the simplicity of everything I enjoy in a daily, sherried dram. Rating Glossary: Two Stars: "I'd rather be drinking lite beer." Two 1/2 Stars: "Posh rubbish." Three Stars: "I love whisk(e)y. This is average love." Three 1/2 Stars: "May buy again." Four Stars: "I've got to get you into my life." Four 1/2 Stars: "Better than drugs." Five Stars: "Life is good. Whisky makes it better." got to get you into my life." Four 1/2 Stars: "Better than drugs." Five Stars: "Life is good. Whisky makes it better."