Description:

Struan Grant Ralph, the Glenfiddich global brand ambassador, visited our small nation last week as part of a global tour for a number of events hosted by the "Hacerem," the community's Glenfiddich importer. The Glenfiddich Experimental Series was the main topic of the events, which also included a bonus of a rare look at the whisky-making process for the Glenfiddich 21-Year-Old Reserva Rum Cask Finish.

So we sat down with Struan to debate the experimental series, project XX, and Glenfiddich in the hope of learning something new, and indeed, in the end, we came out wiser, impressed, yet also wishing for a change in Glenfiddich. It seemed like a good idea, and timescale to (finally) have an in-depth review of the Glenfiddich Project XX.

On the nose, it was exactly like entering a candy store. Candy Ranchers Peppermint. Sweetening sugar. Gumdrop bears Sugar Fathers' espresso milk. Coffee bean Watermelon. Flowery scents especially rose.

On the palate, sweets, and fruit. Orange. Chocolate milk. Turkish ice cream. Toffee. Vanilla. Apple candies. Fudge. Peppermint. Sweet cane. Raisins. Malt. A little bit harsh, but in a good way. Youthful. A suggestion of new make spirit would indicate that there is some very young whisky present, but it is of the highest quality and is well-balanced with what we would assume to be some older casks.

The Goal is Raisins. Oak. Chocolate milk. Fudge. Peppermint. Sweet cane. Orange. Length is average.

This is delicious food. Very sweet, but not overly so. It truly appeals to me. This whisky has more caramel notes than any other we can recall. Despite being mostly composed of former bourbon barrels, the impact of sherry and port is noticeable. This is of outstanding quality and is quite well-balanced. Therefore we would think that it contains a significant quantity of younger whisky. This is a good illustration of how young and aged whisky can be combined to produce a wonderful finished product. We only wish that whisky companies would tell us the age of their whisky up front rather than leaving us to make a guess.