Glenfiddich Age of Discovery Bourbon Cask 19 Year

Pour from Standard Bottle.

Second Nose (added water): The water definitely smoothed out the nose a lot. It’s much softer than the first nose. The aroma of flowers and green grasses appear. The fruits appear but ripe dry fruits as well as the barley. Second pallet (water added): Very soft and more thin of course. The water takes the spice down quite a bit. If Neat is too much for you then adding the water made this more approachable. The pallet opened up to a more feminine floral grassy flavor with barely coming to the front. Second finish: is much shorter. It leaves the flavor or green grasses behind. It is a tad on the dry side with water added.

First Nose: heavy cherry and vanilla coming off the top with a slight clove hint underneath. Very slight peaty aroma but as it’s a Speyside that’s not surprising. Deeper in is some cinnamon and ginger. Almost zero alcohol tennis coming off the nose. First pallet: it starts off very approachable quite soft with a nice sweetness. You can definitely get the bourbon vanilla and caramel, toffee notes that are big and rich right off the bat. It then begins to open into a nice spice of clove and ginger with a small amount of cinnamon. Finish: medium the spice fades to a fruity dried peal of apple and pears.

So smooth!

It's definitely influenced by bourbon. I enjoy their 14 year bourbon barrel, especially if you can still find it at the $60 range, as an easy go to sipper. This is that solid bottle x100 in the depth of flavor offerings, understanding that the predominant notes are from the bourbon (why you would buy it). There's toffee, vanilla, and fruit....apple...zesty citrus? that turns into a more carameled wood finish. The wood is the flavor maker here and adds the leather and a bitter tanginess that's a nice touch right before the apple and spiciness washes through. It's not hitting a bunch of amazing notes like others at the $150+ price point can, but it's very good. Tried with a few scotch beginners and some lifers at the table who all loved this one. With that said, while I would recommend it I also wouldn't buy another bottle at the $180 I paid.