Glenfiddich 40 Year Old Bot.2000 1st Release

• Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
• Distillery Bottling

70cl / 43.6%

One of the first editions of Glenfiddich 40yo, bottled in 2000.

Meanwhile, Color: pale gold. Nose: it’s one of these leafier and pleasantly lighter ones again. Lots of cereals, greenery, petrichor, citrus pith, chalk and pebbles. White pepper, hessian, newspaper ink, dried tarragon and a hint of menthol tobacco. This is a style I really enjoy I have to say. With water: dried are more towards fresh fabrics, linens, wool, clay, chalk and green tea with lemon. Also some rather grassy rapeseed oil. Glenfiddich 40 Year Old Bot.2000 1st Release

Further, It’s very good but probably something you need to be in the mood for. Mouth: a direct and rather punchy arrival. Green pepper, lightly sooty, freshly bailed hay, caramelised oatmeal, runny honey, old shilling ales, melon and lemon curd. Big, quite gutsy and rather grown up malt whisky. With water: fruity museli, baking soda, pastry, dried apricots, bay leaf, moroccan spices. Still rather peppery, warming and lightly earthy. Finish: long, slightly mentholated and full of light wood spices, putty, coal dust, hefty cereals and buttery brown toast. Comments: Technically very good whisky, but probably a tad difficult in many ways. Fun to dissect with whisky pals but maybe not a go to dram of a quiet evening. Still, technically excellent.
SGP: 461 – 88 points.

Finally, I find these latter day Glenfarclas Family Casks are not unlike the official Highland Park single casks that are ubiquitous these days. That is to say: technically excellent but perhaps a little demanding to drink. They can certainly be quite tiring when trying multiple versions in a row, seeking differences in profile and variations in quality. In that way they are both excellent examples of modern whisky. Overall very good, but peaks of quality have fallen in favour of the level playing field of uniformity. That’s why there’s such a narrow range of scores on display here.