Glenfiddich Grand Cru 23 Year

The nose is rich and full, giving a sense of age, though not giving a sense of much complexity or deep, dark, rich flavors like Glenfarclas. The palate is disappointingly light and watery. I'm not shocked given that it's only 40%, but I am disappointed. There's a prevalent wateriness. There's some light fruit, but the flavors on a whole don't really stand out in terms of quality. There's a decent balance I guess with fruitiness and some spice and some cardboard, but it really doesn't taste like much. It tastes better than bland sake, but it has its own imperfections too. The flavor here is light with no smoke or sea spray. There's plenty of sweetness, sort of like mild sugar water but it also has some problematic bread that's gone a little bad but isn't full-on mildewed yet. It definitely has a light flavor that gives me a bit of a notion of champagne, though it also kind of just reminds me of sake and shouju. It's really not very good, unfortunately. I like some of the sweetness and a bit of the more subtle swirling character, but it kind of tastes like Sho Chiku Bai Nigori with some gross bread, which isn't bad but is weird. I only get a little bit of the richness that the distiller reviewer claims. I do taste a little bit of pear and sweet apricot and they're nice, but not enough in this price range and, frankly, not enough for a whiskey in general. This mostly doesn't taste bad, but it tastes like a whole lot of nothing.

Excellent. This is the first I’ve heard of this offering and it’s easily my favorite Glenfiddich I’ve had. Has a non-overpowering sweetness to it while still keeping a complexity about it. Candied almonds and white grape stand out to me, with some salt towards the end. I love this and would never refuse a pour.