The ruby-hued expression, taken from a single cask of 1976 vintage, will catch the eye of Scotch whisky enthusiasts when it makes its public debut at the House of Aston Martin during Monterey Car Week this weekend.
While we don’t want to get bogged down in the details of another brand partnership, it’s worth looking at the context: Aston Martin Lagonda (the road car company) had a fruitful collaboration with Bowmore. The most recent co-creation, ARC-54, was released in April of this year.
It was clear at the time that the relationship had reached its natural end, but it’s surprising to see the British marque find a new partner so quickly. Yet if it were to be any distillery, Glenfiddich was the most likely. The Speyside distillery is already cozy with the Aston Martin F1 team.
While the link-up will ultimately see other-worldly co-creations like ARC-54, this debut release is refreshingly light-touch. Presented in Glenfiddich’s traditional triangular decanter, there’s little to distract you from the liquid inside. And that’s a good thing, because it’s very good. Malt master Brian Kinsman told Elite Traveler that there wasn’t too much to think about when it came to Aston Martin. His only brief was to bottle something excellent.
Asked why this was the right whisky to kick off the partnership, he said: “Because it tastes great. It was very much about picking a whisky that is just amazing. It’s a classic Glenfiddich. It’s got all the notes you’d expect to have.
“It’s a 1976 cask, originally European oak, refill sherry butt. We’re always looking for different things to do, but in 2023, one of the coopers at the distillery took a brand new sherry butt – 500 liters – and cut it down to a quarter butt.
“This whisky got nearly 18 months finishing period in this bespoke quarter butt. It didn’t transform the whisky at all because it was already beautiful. It just added a bit of nuance. It’s got a good amount of tannin going on there and an extended finish.”
Kinsman and his team have plenty of experience when it comes to cask finishes. The distillery’s Grand Series all use the method of moving whisky to a new cask for a period of finishing. Moving a 40-plus-year-old vintage into a first-fill, sherry-seasoned quarter cask feels risky. They are among the most active options for imparting flavor quickly.
“When you take an old whisky and you put it into a new cask like that, it doesn’t behave in the same way as a young whisky,” Kinsman said. “It’s already rounded off. It’s already got that balance of flavor that’s taken 45 years to build up. All it did was add a bit of balance. It’s a risk, but you get an interesting result. There’s direct flavor from the quarter butt just layered on top of that.”
Already drawn in by the whisky’s beautiful red color, the nose offers sweet stewed apples and red berries. It is reminiscent of apple strudel, with a buttery pastry quality. Yet there are hints of oak spice in the background, with a tinge of damp wood lingering in the background. The palate is a little in reverse. The spicy oak notes hit at the top, with the sweetness developing a little later. The finish is long and pleasantly drying. At 48.8% ABV, this feels like a whisky bottled right at the peak of its power. Any more influence from that active quarter cask could take that dry tannin note too far.
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It is, as Kinsman promised, a classic Glenfiddich.
The Glenfiddich 1976 will be available exclusively through The Distillers Library and the Glenfiddich distillery, POA.