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Kensington Wine Market 2017 Whisky Advent Day 10 - Glenfiddich 15 Year Solera

Posted on November 12, 2023

KWM Whisky Advent Day 10 â€“ Glenfiddich 15 Year Solera Reserve

Before we dig into todayâ€™s Advent whisky, I have a confession to make. Until earlier this year I had written off Glenfiddich as boring, washed up, and increasingly irrelevant. Glenfiddich is the worldâ€™s bestselling single malt. One statistic claims that it accounts for 35% off all global single malt sales. That figure seems suspiciously high, but the point remains, Glenfiddich is huge, dominant and ubiquitous. I am willing to admit I was wrong. I was too critical and dismissive of Glenfiddich, and not open to the possibility that their whisky could still be interesting and exciting.

William Grant & Sons, the parent company of Glenfiddich, and also owners of The Balvenie, is huge. On a tour a number of years ago I was given a figure for the volume of whisky they had maturing at their site in Dufftown. It was and still is a staggering amount, I did some quick math in my head, comparing it to then Scotlandâ€™s smallest distillery Edradour. At the time Edradourâ€™s production was 100,000L a year. It would have taken Edradour nearly 1500 years running flat out to produce the volume of whisky in William Grantâ€™s warehouses.

Glenfiddich, which means â€œvalley of the dearâ€ was founded in 1886 in the town of Dufftown. Scotland was in the midst of a massive boom in distilling due to the surge of interest in Blended Scotch whisky. The distillery was built by hand by William Grant and his family (seven sons and two daughters) in the glen of the River Fiddich. Spirit ran off the stills for the first time on Christmas Day 1887. Business was so good that just a few short years later in 1892 the family opened their second distillery, Balvenie, just a few hundred meters away.

In 1898 Pattison Elder & Co., William Grantâ€™s largest customer (also that of many other distilleries), filed for bankruptcy. Many distilleries and whisky companies in turn went bankrupt as a result, but William Grant & Sons held fast. They saw an opportunity to produce and sell their owns blends like Standfast. The prohibition era was a difficult time for the Scotch whisky industry, by the turn of the 1930s there were less than a dozen distilleries still operating in Scotland. William Grant & Sonâ€™s saw an opportunity. The Depression would eventually end, and then there would be a mad scramble to make more whisky, which would take years to mature. So during the Great Depression William Grant & Sons increased production to position themselves to supply future demand. It was a bet that would pay dividends.

Glenfiddich 15 Year Solera Reserve â€“ 40% - Matured in Ex-Bourbon and Ex-Sherry Casks. Some of the whisky is finished 2 years in New American Oak. The whisky is mellowed in their famous Solera Vat before marrying in Portugese Oak tuns. - Andrewâ€™s Tasting Note: â€œNose: doughy, decadent and very fruity; elegant with lots of layers, caramel chews and waxy honeycomb; soft vanilla and crÃ¨me brule. Palate: round and fruity in character with a base of waxy honey and vanilla; more caramel with milk chocolate and orange and dates; Fig Newtons circa 10 years ago before the changed the recipe; building sherry oak spices and earthy oak. Finish: medium in length, very pleasant and elegant. Comment: this is a very good malt for its age and price; I just wish they would kick up the ABV to 46%! - $80 per 750ml and $8 per 50ml