Tasting Notes by Michael Jackson

• NOSE

  Deliciously appetising. A real depth of honey aromas, which seem to emerge in layers, as though each were extracted from a different flower. Then beeswax. Finally, a balancing flowery dryness and faint burnt-heather smokiness.

• PALATE

  Lean, but silky-smooth. Very slow, sustained emergence of flavours. Firm, dryish, restrained, honey, becoming scenty. Gradually giving way to biscuity maltiness. A hint of bitter chocolate. Finally a surge of soft, oily smokiness, with some peaty dryness.

• FINISH

  Toasty, smoky. Applewood smoke. Long, lingering, slightly sappy, oak, dryness.

• COMMENT

  The younger Glenfiddichs are fruitier, those in their middle years more creamy. Forty years is a great age for a whisky. This malt has matured with elegance. It is the most urbane Glenfiddich that I have tasted. Its flavours are so dovetailed that they are reluctant to unfold. After a few drinks, the whisky does begin to reveal itself, but it demands one’s full attention. It tells its story a little at a time, drily, almost teasingly. It makes such good company that I am reluctant to share it. Perhaps with someone very special…?.