The whiskey is made from a unique four-barley fermented wash that consists of carbon filtered Rocky Mountain water and western barley that is grown in the Northern Rockies. The wash is distilled in a Vendome Copper custom-made pot/still and then aged in 52.8 gallon heavily charred, American white oak whiskey barrels for a minimum of two years. 10 barrels are combined to make each batch.

Stranahan’s is named after minority owner, educator and activist George Stranahan, who also owns the Flying Dog Brewery formerly of Denver, currently located in Maryland.

Small casks, Swedish oak and storage in Bodås mine
Much of the whisky in The 1st Edition has been stored in 100-litre casks, which produces an exciting, powerful ageing process. We have also used newly manufactured Swedish oak casks, made using oak that was planted on the island of Visingsö 160 years ago and intended for use in building warships for the Swedish navy. The base is our Elegant recipe, stored in bourbon casks of first fill quality. All stored in the Bodås mine, 50 metres down inside the primary rock.

Citrus, caramel and honey
The colour is light yellow, with hints of amber. The nose is fruity with citrus, pear, apple, honey, light oak with hints of lightly toasted bread and fresh, buttery caramel. The flavour is fruity and subtle, with citrus, caramel and honey. A light hint of oak can be noted at the end. The aftertaste is well-adjusted and balanced, with hints of dark chocolate. For optimal flavour, the alcohol strength has been adjusted to 46.1% using naturally purified water from the Valbo Ridge.

Nose: Outwardly flattish, but time and patience reveals life beyond the sherry — hints of cherry and oak.
Palate: Mouth-filling and chewy. Lots of cream toffee. All the time there’s a delicate, malty spice buzz
Finish: Very long and still milky, silky toffee with malt and vanilla arriving. A wave or two of sweet liquorice adds further richness.

- Jim Murray

Tasting Notes

Appearance: Medium golden, clear and bright.
Nose: Soft, mature, mellow oak and apple fruitiness.
Palate: Rich, full oak and fruit, very long, rich finish.

Nose
Very clean nose: the oak is minimal with honeyed-grassy malt. Beguiling.

Palate
A fabulous, honey-sweet infusion of tender malty notes do take on a waxy middle.

Finish
Bitter-sweet and still waxy with mounting vanilla and even a late hint of cocoa.

Comment
By no means the most complex whisky on the market, but unquestionably one of the most elegant and charming.

Jim Murray

History

The Glenfiddich Distillery was founded in 1876 by William Grant in Dufftown, Scotland, in the valley of the River Fiddich. The Glenfiddich single malt whisky first ran from the stills on Christmas Day, 1887. Following difficult times in the 1960s and 70s, many small, independent distillers were bought up or went out of business. In order to survive, W. Grant & Sons expanded their production of the drink, and introduced advertising campaigns, a visitor’s centre and from 1957 packaged the Scotch in distinctive triangular bottles. Later, W. Grant & Sons was one of the first distilleries to package its bottles in tubes and gift tins, as well as recognising the importance of the duty-free market for spirits. This marketing strategy was successful, and Glenfiddich has now become the world’s best-selling single malt. It is sold in 180 countries, and accounts for about 30% of single malt sales.

Production

The whisky is the only Highland or Speyside Scotch whisky to be distilled, matured and bottled at a single distillery[citation needed]. The distillery is the only Scotch whisky distillery to use a single source of natural spring water[citation needed]. This source is the Robbie Dhu springs. Glenfiddich is matured in oak casks such as rum casks from Cuba (in the case of Gran Reserva), Bourbon whiskey barrels from America (Ancient Reserve), or sherry butts from Spain.

Whiskies

Glenfiddich is bottled at ages of 12, 15, 18, 21 and 30 years old. The distillery has also bottled a number of rare whiskies including:

• Glenfiddich 40 Year Old (from casks filled in 1963)
• Glenfiddich 50 Year Old
• Glenfiddich 1937 (this whisky was bottled in 2001 and therefore it is 64 years old – years spent in the bottle are not counted)

Other products include Caoran Reserve & Solera Reserve.

Glenfiddich Awards

Since 1970, Glenfiddich has promoted the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Awards to honour distinguished writing and broadcasting in the fields of food and drink in the UK.