Glenfiddich 15 Year Old is a Scotch whisky categorized as one of the best single malts in the world. It has a 40% Alcohol By Volume (ABV) and a volume of 70 cl.

These are notes from a tasting a while ago. I still stand behind them . . . although I feel like I might need to give this one another go again. Nose.. A lovely nose delivering typical sherry notes of candied oranges, dates and figs, a lovely fresh citrus aroma of orange, spices like cinnamon and ginger, honey and vanilla, all in one single bottle.. The nose is fresh, light and enticing. Honey and citrous (especially oranges) hit me straight away from over a foot away as I hold the glass in my lap. Licorice, oak and floral notes become clear as the glass gets closer to my nose. As the glass reaches my nose and I breathe deeply I get a light cinnamon note as well. Really intriguing and mouth-watering.

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Taste: sweet, sherry note, apples, tea, peppery, fizzy on the tongue, hints of a bourbon, as it sits in the glass, a nutty flavor evolves, toffee, hint of liqourice, dark dry fruits, very warming and echos the nose well

On the palate, the first thing that hits is how thin this whisky feels. Not surprising, given that it's only 40%, I suppose, but somewhat disappointing nonetheless. The flavor is exceedingly smooth, with more honey, cinnamon, fudgy vanilla, sherry fruits, and light almond. The finish is fairly short, with yet more honey, oak, dried fruits, ginger, and nutmeg. Interestingly changing nose, a rare very-easy entrance, and a tasty palate: this is a very good scotch all around. Unless it gets too much oxygen, it is not overly oaky with bitter spice.Glenfiddich is one of the most, if not THE most, popular single malts around in terms of pure sales. Whether it deserves this level of popularity or not isn't something I'm going to argue over here, and I definitely try not to let such things sway my opinion either way- a lot of things that sell well are vastly outclassed by some lesser-known offerings, but at the same time it seems a lot of times very popular malts get panned to an extent as being 'too commercial' and the like. I can say that this particular offering, for me, falls somewhere in the middle of those two extremes- it's certainly tasty, and dangerously easy to drink, but at the same time it's certainly not what I'd call thrilling by any stretch of the imagination. Essentially it's the whisky equivalent of comfort food- it's tasty and enjoyable, but it's not impressive or particularly interesting. This would be a great drink to break out and share with some friends and relax with, particularly if they don't all drink whisky often. Or maybe an easier way to explain it would be to say you have a bottle of whisky, it's an empty bottle of whisky so what you do is all the bits and bobs from your other bottles, the bottles that only have a dram or two left, you combine them together and as you drink from this combined bottle, you'd replace what you drank with more whisky so even years later you're still getting a little bit of the original bottling.

Overall impressions: Diluting with a few drops of water opened up the flavour profile slightly, bringing out subtle tones of toffee, but I prefer it neat (the ABV is low to begin with (40 %); I’d love to sample a cask-strength sample or a dram with a slightly higher ABV). If you want a break from salt and smoke, this expression provides a warm, peaceful, affordable dram. It has slightly more body than a typical Speysider, and offers a pleasant personality. In my local store it is priced higher than the Glendronach 12 YO, and below the Balvenie 12 YO DoubleWood, which is about where it belongs. Double Gold Award, Single Malt Scotch 13 to 19 Years Category – San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2013 David Stewart, the fifth Malt Master, mellowed the whisky in the unique Solera Vat, a huge oak tun inspired by sherry bodegas in Spain and Portugal and continued to this day. As a result, the Glenfiddich 15 Year Old that is bottled today has a small bit of every other batch produced since the tun was originally filled in 1998. It’s an excellent method of ensuring consistency.

Overall impressions: Diluting with a few drops of water opened up the flavour profile slightly, bringing out subtle tones of toffee, but I prefer it neat (the ABV is low to begin with (40 %); I’d love to sample a cask-strength sample or a dram with a slightly higher ABV). If you want a break from salt and smoke, this expression provides a warm, peaceful, affordable dram with a pleasant personality. In my local store it is priced slightly higher than the Glendronach 12 YO, and below the Balvenie 12 YO DoubleWood, which is about where it belongs. This best single malt has an intriguingly subtle scent. Sweet heather honey and vanilla fudge are blended with deep dark fruits. Silky smooth, with hints of sherry oak, marzipan, cinnamon, and ginger, it is full-bodied and flavorful. It also has a satisfyingly rich finish with a lingering sweetness.