Scotch Whisky Review #144: Glenfiddich Special Reserve Pure Malt (1990s Bottling)

Distillery: Glenfiddich

Region: Speyside

Price: $6 for 2 oz

ABV: 43%

Age: NAS

Color: 0.3, Pale Gold.

This is the twenty-third in my Countdown to Christmas series where I’ll be posting a review a day until Christmas. You can find the entire series here.

Nose: Very light and fruity. There are some pears, apples, and a lot of cantaloupe melon.

Palate: This is a really bright and sugar dram. More of that cantaloupe pops up to make for a rather pleasant and way too easy to drink dram.

Finish: Finish is a little bit of a letdown. It’s medium to short with a bit of oak and something a bit creamy. It feels a little out of place with the rest of the dram being bright and sugary.

Conclusion: While far from complex, this slightly dusty Glenfiddich is really nice. It’s sweet, fruity, and bright making for a real lovely dessert dram. This dram reminds me a lot of the modern Glenfiddich 12 through it’s sugary fruitiness without all of the heat. It’s definitely nice to see a big distillery keeping to a similar flavor profile over the years. Would I buy a bottle? If they still sold this, I’d definitely keep this around for an after dinner dram.

Final Score: 78.

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Scotch Whisky Review #144, Speyside Review #59, Whisky Network Review #192

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.