Glenfiddich Project XX

Get your 20 brand ambassadors, let them loose in your No.2 warehouse with instructions to each select one cask, then tell your master blender to blend all 20 casks together. The result is Glenfiddich's Project XX, or Project 20. Glenfiddich's experimental streak inspires me to undertake my own experiment and use Charles Maclean's tasting wheel to (ahem, more objectively?) make tasting notes. So, without further ado: Pour 30ml of Project XX into a Glencairn. Gently swirl to coat glass walls. Let sit for 10 minutes. Load said tasting wheel on laptop screen. -- Start Nosing -- Pass #1: On the wheel, moving clockwise from 12 o'clock and checking off on the aromas listed around the wheel's periphery. Cereal? Check, probably. Fruity? Check, definitely. Floral? Yes, no, maybe, hmm. Peaty? Absolutely not. Feinty? [sotto voce] What? Sulphury? No, for sure. Woody? Check, for sure. Winey? Check, most definitely. Pass #2: On the wheel, again moving clockwise from 12 o'clock and now reading aroma headings listed near the wheel's centre. For category Cereal I cannot find anything close to the XX's aromas. Does this mean I should uncheck Cereal entirely? Google says Yes. Unchecked and forgotten. For Fruity I've got Fresh Fruit, Cooked Fruit, Dried Fruit. For Floral I have Hay-Like...I think? For Feinty (this one again), I get Honey and Tobacco. For Woody, I smell Vanilla and New Wood. For Winey, I get Sherried and Nutty. [Quick sidebar: Google again, reveals that Feinty refers to aromas/flavours produced during the tails, or feints part of the distillation process.] Pass #3: On the wheel, for the third and final time, moving clockwise from 12 o'clock: now reading the detailed aromas in the middle of the wheel, I try to put those words in a cohesive tasting note format, minus the lyrical part (I'm looking at you @DigitalArc). Immediately on the nose, Project XX brings to mind Glenfiddich 12. There are apples, pears and apricots aplenty, and the all too familiar notes of butterscotch, vanilla and cinnamon, albeit fainter, more nuanced; but this is just the beginning - there's a fullness and richness in the aromas that cajoles further exploration. This, in turn, brings up notes of autumn's plum jam, supple black raisins and dried figs. A faint herbal note of heather is mixed together with the aroma of honeyed mead sprinkled down with a dusting of nutmeg. -- End of Nosing -- I found the tasting wheel to be quite the tool, no pun intended. It helped structure the thought process taking place behind the nosing experience and provided with associations that perhaps at times I would've found elusive. At the same time though, for me, it took something out of the pleasure of actually smelling the water of life and recollecting/rediscovering aromas of memories past. I won't go through this process again for the palate. Suffice to say, that Project XX delivers on the palate what the nose already promised. The mouthfeel is creamy and soft with a dry sensation coming from the sherry and port vattings. For a 47% ABV, NAS bottling, there is barely any alcohol burn, the flavours are rounded and full, and the medium length finish is oaky and satisfying, which makes me suspect that some old casks may be involved in this blend. Well done Glenfiddich, for me this is definitely a VfM offering.

Glenfiddich is something that I have had a few times over the years, and only twice with considered tasting thought here on Distiller. The various expressions have always struck me as perfectly fine. Just fine. Nothing special about them. So, it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I purchased a sample of this XX. Supposedly this XX (twenty) ”is a vatting of twenty different casks, including Port pipes, Sherry butts and first-fill Bourbon casks, each chosen by the brand’s twenty global ambassadors. A collaborative marketing exercise, each ambassador selected a cask from the distillery's warehouses that best represented their personality. The casks were then blended together to create a NAS, non-chill-filtered expression” All I am hearing is ‘marketing exercise’. Lets see how it holds up. N: A strong musty nose on pouring that a generous time opening in the glass has not dissipated. Sweet apples and pears with a certain floral character are slightly masked by spicy oak, aniseed. Some late furniture polish. P: Well that was unexpected: bright and very fruity. This is floral candy floss, and pear cider at first backed up with woody spice notes, vanilla, biscuit, marzipan. F: Long. Florals are dominant, some waxy-tannic undertones and what ultimately is a sweet and almost soapy mouthfeel. OK. There is a lot going on here. The nose feels like it could be excellent but it comes across as slightly out of focus, almost unmixed. The palate has some wonderful florals but they should be a suggestion, a delicate whisper. Instead this is like a mouthful of pot-pourri and its just too intense. The finish is strange, again it just feels muddled. There are rave reviews out there for this whisky, with Jim Murray giving it 95.5/100 in the 2019 Whisky Bible. Several other glowing reviews from notable names in the industry are easy to find. But no, I just don’t get it. This feels less like a project and more like the marketing team trying to keep the accountants happy in using up a bunch of left over barrels under the guise of a brains trust. It’s not that though it is just too many cooks in the kitchen if you ask me (which I realise, no one did). Distiller whisky tastes #303 [Pictured here with a garnet-staurolite schist from the Bohemian Massif of the Czech Republic. This rock represents the eastern end of a huge European mountain building episode called the Variscan Orogeny that occurred 380-280 million years ago during the assembly of the Supercontinent Pangea. This rock represents metamorphism of a muddy sediment at up to 570 degrees C and at up to 5 kbar of pressure. Only one cook in this kitchen; geology; and it cooked up a stonker] Glenfiddich running scores Glenfiddich 12: 3/5 Orchard Experiment: 2.75/5 Project XX: 2.5/5

Nose - toffee, buttercream frosting, tangerine, honey, strawberry, vanilla, pear, apple, grape, cinnamon, grass, lemon, black pepper, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - apple, pear, honey, caramel, strawberry, lemon, vanilla, grass, plum, almond, allspice, clove, lemon, ginger, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with apple, honey, citrus, and baking spice flavors. After reviewing my records, I was surprised to find that the only Glenfiddich I’ve tried is the standard 12 year. Actually, I’m not that surprised. The general profile was always too light and fruity for my tastes. This is fruity, but it’s certainly not the light and boring Glenfiddich I’ve grown to ignore. The nose holds the standard honeyed fruit basket, but there’s more intrigue and oomph. The palate is surprisingly sharp, with crisp strawberry and prickly baking spices leading to a reasonable finish that fades nicely without veering into sour or bitter territory. I really like the inspiration behind this release. There’s a lot of quality in here, it’s blended well, and proofed correctly. While not amazing, I’d happily drink this any day, and that’s not something I could say after my past Glenfiddich experiences. Big thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample.

This is Glenfiddich Project XX Experience #02. It brings an interesting high rye bourbon taste. Comes in a great ABV of 47%, which brings more flavors forward. It has the traditional Glenfiddich signature aroma of apples, pears mixed with creamy vanilla alingside oak, honey. After some water drops and waiting for about 20 minutes, it becomes similar to a high rye bourbon or even a rye whisky with great aromas of a wet pine wood with all the pines on the ground. Such a nice experience! The palate brings honey, vanilla, apple and cinammon. The finish is long with spices lime nutmeg and more cinnamon. Very good! Slàinte Mhath!!!

Take a sip, and fall back into a burst of relaxation and satisfaction. On the nose: your favourite fruit basket with a side of vanilla, honey, and some roasted oak. The palate: smooth refreshing taste of Apple, apricot, pear, and maybe some cherry. The perfect blend of vanilla and oak with a drizzle of honey. The flavour is incredibly balanced and as it goes down is nice and smooth. The finish is a medium taste, not too heavy or light (you could say just right), with the question remaining “where have you been all my life?”

Nose - apples, apricots, slight oakyness Taste - oaky up front, then fruity vanilla follows Finish - oaky finish, slight sweetness Score - 3.75 Scoring Legend 5.0 - Outstanding, unmatched to others 4.5 - Excellent, I will always keep a bottle in stock if possible 4.0 - Very good, quite enjoyable to drink, can consider as a solid choice 3.5 - Good, would taste again 3.0 - Average 2.5 - Acceptable, still drinkable 2.0 - Inferior, able to drink but not enjoyable 1.5 and below—wouldn’t drink again unless I am desperate