Glenfiddich 15 Year Our Solera Fifteen

Received a bottle of this in celebration of the birth of my baby. Shy at first, let it open up. As it does, salted caramel predominates. With time, I smell peach candy, star anise, honeyed barley, and cinnamon yeast donut. The palate reveals more caramel, whispers of lemon cheesecake and dried strawberries, and an over wrought grape soda note. Generally, the palate is gentle, sweetly malty. Up to this point the dram is fine, nice even. But now, the finish feels unrefined. The alcohol feels untethered from the notes of the nose and palate. Yet more caramel, warming pipe tobacco, canned pineapple, and menthol show up in the finish, though they do not coalesce pleasantly. Though the price would not suggest as much, this single malt is just okay; it can be enjoyed casually, but don’t think about it too much.

Carmel, coconut, oak, smoke, dark, chocolate, dark fruits, hints of vanilla upfront, very smooth