Thanks to /u/xile_ for pouring this for me.
I’m not the biggest Glenfiddich fan boy. Yes, the 18 has a special place in my heart, however I’m not constantly hunting down Glenfiddich to try.
That said I have been hunting down Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix. I had a chance to have a pour, however not being the biggest Glenfiddich fan I passed. Snow Phoenix sounded too much like a certain blend set of whiskies that I can pass on.
Suffice to say I’m dumb, and it ran out at that bar quicker than beer at a pretzel fest.
Showed up to a tasting and was told I’d be trying a mystery. I had no idea what it was. Let’s see how it was blind, shall we?
Price: Check an auction
Region: Speyside
Number of bottles: 12,000
Cask Types: American oak & Oloroso sherry casks
Abv: 47.6%
Colour: 7.5Y 8/8
Nose: Honeycrisp apples, cloves, lime floral
Nice apple flavour. Has some more sweetness to it. Granted I’ve been buying honeycrisps more and more, because I deserve it, dammit.
Eventually there’s some spice, and a bit of floral/lime notes. Water helps the later come out, like a good ally, in its own time.
Taste: Malt, papaya, honey, lemon, white chocolate
Wow, nice malt note. Good honey, citrus, and even some creamy/sweet notes.
Finish: Banana, dry apple, cloves, malted chocolate, more cloves
Good rich flavour. Dry, then rich, good malt note, and really ramps up the spice. Because it’s cloves I’m not annoyed by it, because it has a more subtle spice effect, even if there is more than I’d normally like.
Conclusion: Very rich. The sherry casks here ended up adding to the whisky rather than overpowering it like the 15. Frankly, I thought this was totally ex-bourbon and evolved this way.
The nose is where this falls down. I really wanted more to it. It’s complex but not too strong. The rest hits you with good flavours but nothing too overly complex. End of the day this was fun. Here’s hoping more collapses happen and we can get more like this. I for one am cheering on the termites.
82/100
Guess: Speyside, 21 year, ex-bourbon, 54%, maybe a Royal Lochnagar?
Actually: Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix
Scotch review #1159, Speyside review #326, Whisky review #1784
1001 Whiskies You Must Taste Before You Die review #367
tomoderawhisky.ca 
Reblogged this on Toronto Whisky Society.
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Great review! I just got a bottle of this from a friend who is moving abroad. Found your review when I was searching for more information about it and really liked your description of the tasting. Thanks!
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I have a few bottles that I bought when it was originally released and am considering selling them. Maybe I should have bought a few cases of them like the guy I met at the LCBO when I bought mine. LCBO had brought them in as part of their Christmas gift specials, and they sat there for weeks untouched. If I remember correctly, the LCBO bought like like 50% of the total bottle release. And when the news spread that the available bottles in the UK all sold out within a week or so, they disappeared within a week in all LCBO stores. I have searched a few sites and looks like the going rate is about $1000.00 CND these days. What kind of market is there for this bottle at that price?
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The market has gotten ridiculous. There’s people out there buying things just because. While this was tasty, is it $1,000 tasty? No.
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