I am delighted to announce this year’s Vintage Reserve has been chosen! Cask number 22000, filled in 1975, was selected by a panel comprising of previous and current tour guides, in celebration of our Visitor Centre’s 40^th anniversary. Sunday (July 5^th), will indeed mark exactly 40 years since the Grant family opened the distillery doors to the public (a first in Scotland).

As has become customary, David Stewart had pre-selected 6 casks for us to choose a favourite from. Cask 22000 is a Spanish oak butt which should yield around 500 bottles when it is emptied and bottled in the next few weeks.

David’s thoughts on this year’s Vintage Reserve are:

Nose - A rich, vibrant aroma.  Beautiful ripe apricots and plums combined with dates, raisins and sultanas.  The vanilla oak notes from the Spanish oak cask envelop the other aromas to deliver a wonderfully balanced and complex experience.

Taste - Tremendously full bodied with layers of tannin, spice and fruity sweetness.  The initial flavour is driven by rich oak and mouth coating tannin which gently makes way for soft vanilla and a creamy smoothness.  After a few minutes its spicy character of cinnamon, nutmeg and spiced apple develops.  The finale is warm and oaky with a hint of bitter dark chocolate.

Finish - Exceptionally long, rich and oaky

Personally, I also detected a few floral notes, especially and strangely enough, without water addition.

Please feel free to share your thoughts below when you manage to get your hands on a bottle.

Regards,

Ludo

 Come forward Mr Dhu (pictured below), or Robbie as his friends call him. Robbie Dhu, whose name comes from our famous distillery spring, is a six-month-old long-haired dwarf dachshund.

Hans-Henrik will be sending more picture next week. I will make sure to post them here.

Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Ludo

One of our 2008 artists in residence, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy, will be exhibiting some of her recent work at the Air Gallery in London next week (June 1^st to 6^th).

Below are images of some of the pieces she produced while with us in Dufftown and which will be on display from Monday.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend her exhibition but if any of you are interested, please feel free to visit her website for more information.

Good luck Chinwe!

Ludo

I thought nothing stranger could happen but I was proven wrong a few days ago when talking to about 100 whisky enthusiasts in Samara, Russia.  Half way through my presentation, I saw a strangely familiar face peeking through the door. At first I thought, how interesting?! This guy looks like Bobby Farrell from Boney M! The more I looked at him and the more I thought the resemblance was too great to be a coincidence.  I caught up with him after the tasting and sure enough, he was Daddy Cool! We had a few words and I learned Bobby will be releasing a new single this year. There are more information on his website if any of you would like to be kept updated. Needless to say I am even more of a fan now than I was in the eighties!

Ludo

Below are a few pictures from a recent event in Kuala Lumpur.

Three local bloggers also joined our event. If you would like to read their views or see more pictures of our event, please click on the links below.

www.cheeserland.com

www.sixthseal.com

www.kimong.com

The 12 Year Old for instance is a bottling of whiskies matured in both American and European oak casks - the American oak refers to ex bourbons and the European oak to ex sherry casks. We never actually mention how much of each we use as for each distiller it’s a closely guarded secret. Our Malt Master David Stewart likes to use both as he’s looking for the perfectly balanced whisky flavour.

The recipe of casks used by each distiller will determine to a great degree the final flavour of their respective whiskies.

The quality of the oak and type of oak used, whether American or European or both will deliver approximately 65% of the final flavour in the whisky.

Elliot wondered why we never made reference to the types of oak used to mature each whisky in the bottle as it could be a selling point. A few distillers do display the type of cask on the label but most do not.

My question for you is:

 What would you like to see on the label?

We were sent the pictures below from a friend in Dubai, who reckons the architect responsible for the Emirates Towers, got his inspiration from a bottle of Glenfiddich.

I can see where he’s coming from….

If you would like to send us your pictures, please email me at theglenfiddichblog@wgrant.com

Regards,

Ludo

Below are some pictures of Glenfiddich tastings I recently hosted in Canada.

Regards,

Ian

The Glenfiddich blog, now called the Explorers blog, will remain accessible to everyone but registered users will find contributing to the blog much easier as they won’t need to enter their details before posting comments.

Initially, the Explorers site will only be accessible via our UK site but it will gradually be rolled out to other countries. If you can’t wait for the launch in your market, simply select ‘UK’ in the country drop down menu.

I hope you enjoy our new site and as usual, please feel free to leave your comments below.

Ludo

Whisky Magazine, had kindly invited me to join their judging panel for the prestigious World Whiskies Awards. Honoured and excited, I reported for duty at a London hotel where David Stewart, our Malt Master, who has been a panellist for years, had already arrived.

The fun began at 11 o’clock when we were tasked with a blind nosing and tasting of around 60 of the world’s best whiskies. Armed with water and spittoons, we began rating each whisky, trying not to share our thoughts so as not to influence each other. Assessing the colour, balance and complexity of all these whiskies took around 4 hours and whilst in my mind half a dozen really stood out, it will be weeks before the results are consolidated and announced.

But the fun was far from over, as David and I had also been invited to a gala dinner where the winners of the Icons of Whisky Awards were going to be announced.

Also organised by Whisky Magazine, the Icons of Whisky celebrate the people who make exceptional contributions to the world of whisky. The evening was simply perfect, good food, good whisky and good people. What more could we ask for? A lifetime achievement award perhaps?

As the evening approached to an end, Martine Nouet, editor of the French version of Whisky Magazine, took to the stage to introduce the final award of the evening. David was in for a big surprise! As Martine started speaking about the 46 years’ service of the world’s most experienced Malt Master, David understood he had better quickly think of an acceptance speech! With his usual modest and unassuming manner, David faced the standing ovation and thanked his fellow craftsmen and friends at William Grant & Sons who have inspired and helped him throughout his time in the company.‬‪

David started work at William Grant & Sons as an apprentice in 1962, the year before single malt Scotch whisky was first commercially and officially exported to England, when Glenfiddich effectively established the single malt market outside Scotland. Following a 12 year apprenticeship, David was appointed Master Blender of William Grant & Sons in 1974; a position he has held ever since.

David is a mentor for me and I couldn’t be happier for his success.

This award - the third David has picked up in the past 3 years - really was the ideal end to a most enjoyable day.

Congratulations David!