If you’re ever playing on a trivia team in a bar or pub and the question “what’s the number one single malt whisky in the world?” comes up you now know the answer… Glenfiddich 12. The distillery was founded in 1886 by William Grant and not only do they make the best selling and most awarded scotch whiskies in the world, but they were one of the first single malts to invest in advertising and marketing. From all accounts, it seems to have worked.
Glenfiddich 12 isn’t what you would call an exciting whisky, but it is a good whisky and that’s why it has been able to gain the market share that it has over the years. It’s cheap, good and readily accessible to anyone who wants a soft and easily drinkable single malt. Which, as luck would have it, is exactly what most whisky drinkers want and there’s nothing wrong with that. Not every dram you have needs to be a cask strength peat fueled beast that charges out of the bottle. Sometimes you want something nice and simple, but still tasty, to relax with.
Overall I like the Glenfiddich 12 and if you haven’t had it you should. The nose is a bit soft and mushy with the notes somewhat running together making it not very exciting, but it’s not quite boring either. It’s easy and accessible with sweet malty flavors moving about the glass in a delicate balance. If it were any sweeter it would topple over and become cloying, but there is just enough malt to keep everything in line and make it a pleasant drinking experience with a fantastic finish.
Have you had the Glenfiddich 12? Add your own thoughts in the comments below.
Glenfiddich 12 Review
ABV: 40%
Price: $26
Distiller: Glenfiddich
EYE
Golden caramel
NOSE
The sherry is very prominent and is the first aroma to make it’s way out of the glass. Meandering out on their own time schedule are some notes of caramel, malt, strawberries, red licorice, sugar, light orchard fruit and a bit of vanilla.
TASTE
The flavor does a 180 with the pears and fresh red apples coming up first. Malt leads the second wave with sherry, honey, dessert spice and just a bit of oak and burnt sugar.
FEEL
Smooth to the point it borders on boring but manges to not cross the line.
FINISH
Pears and honey slowly fades to soft malt and oak one a long and pleasant finish.
SCORE: 85/100
Glennfiddich 12 is the reason people drink single malt whiskys; It is smooth as a cats’s back & as sweet as as your very first kiss from your first Highschool crush! This is good sipping scotch; as good as it gets…. forget about all that flowery descriptors by those other snobs! Just pour a glass & sip it and enjoy that soft smooth ride that takes you exactly where you want to go. This is serious whisky for grown ass men who just want to
Sit back & let the stress of the day die a quiet death so they can enjoy their weekend, like grown ass men are Meant to! Cheers, Buddies! The weekend is here!
It’s not the reason I drink single malts (Laphroaig and Aberlour are to blame for that), but to each their own. Cheers George.
Just bought a bottle after not having had any in awhile. It will always hold a special place for me as (is often the case) I have a great memory associated with it. Had to go to Denver once for work, stopped in to visit some extended family just to say hi. After a long day of travel was dying for a whisky, but didn’t know if they had any, let alone welcomed such an ask. When they asked me if I’d like a drink, and mentioned that they have unopened bottles from a recent wedding, I kind of expected something not so great. They brought out some Glenfiddich 12, to my pleasant surprise, and gave me a generous pour into a broad winelass. It was a very pleasant spring evening, and I enjoyed that whisky so so much. That aside, I also push back when people call this a boring whisky, as it has that particular pear note that I don’t find in anything else. Cheers!
Loved reading this Lex, thanks for sharing. Cheers!
should have used more virgin American oak to give it the new standard NAS flavour profile….
Being a bourbon fanatic (having taken over an entirecornerof the kitchen) I have been reluctant to try Scotch. Walked into my local bowling center for league tonight and discovered that in. Th ep[ast week the powers that be have decided to do away with the only decent bourbon they had. So …. I decided to try Glenfiddich 12. Nice! Easy to drink, a tad sweet with just the right amount of fruit throughout. I may have to look into some better drams. If my wife will allow me a bit more kitchen space. :)
Nice man. Glenfiddich 12 is always one the “starter / gateway” malts I recommend to folks who want to start exploring Scotch. It’s not aggressive and like you said it’s a bit sweet with some good fruit and most folks end up enjoying it quite a bit. If you’re looking for a couple others, wife permitting of course, to get you you started I’d recommend Benromach 10 and Highland Park 12.
Cheers!
The first scotch I ever sipped and was the gateway to many other scotches and my current daily dram, Eagle Rare. I enjoyed the Glenfiddich 12 and was amazed at the flavor a of pear permeating the palate. After reading your review, I think I’ll revisit it to see how my more experienced palate deals with it. I Definitely enjoy reading your reviews, Josh.
Thanks Ben. It’s always fun to revisit those “basic” whiskies you haven’t had in years. Sometimes you end up liking them more than you remembered and sometimes you like them less. Still, always fun.
Cheers!