Valley of the Deer. This is why there is a deer standing in the middle of the distillery’s emblem.
The defining feature of the 15 Year Old is its Solera vat, which has never been completely emptied.
The Solera vat has never been completely emptied since it was first filled in 1998. No more than half is drawn off before it is replenished, so each batch carries a little of the one before it.
The starting point is a spirit aged for at least 15 years in European oak sherry casks and American oak bourbon casks.
Some of the American oak matured spirit is finished in new American oak to add vanilla, spice and depth of wood.
The whisky from each cask is collected in a large oak solera vat. This is the step of mixing so that the scents of sherry, bourbon, and new oak are not biased to one side.
It is not an exact replica of sherry's traditional multi-step solera. Borrowing the idea, we designed one large vat that always retains some whisky from the previous batch.
When bottling, only a maximum of half the contents of the vat are removed. New 15-year-old whisky is added to what remains, so there is a natural continuation between the previous batch and the next.
The remaining whisky is mixed with the new spirit, reducing differences that may occur from batch to batch. This is why the aromas of honey, dark fruit, sherry, marzipan, cinnamon and ginger continue steadily.
Based on Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Solera.
Flowers, vanilla and citrus are long and balanced with sherry and oak. The three types of trees do not monopolize any one axis.
There is very little peat and the focus is on honey, dark fruit, marzipan and warm spices.
This is the value that translates the sensory impression of the reference bottling to the same six axes.
William Grant built a distillery with the help of his nine children and a mason. The first distillate flowed on Christmas Day 1887, and its name means valley of the deer in Gaelic.
Malt Master David Stewart created the 15 Year Old Solera process after drawing inspiration from Spanish sherry bodegas. Whisky from several casks meets in one large Solera vat, then rests again before bottling in oak marrying tuns.
No more than half of the vat is drawn off before it is refilled. That does not mean a bottle contains a calculable share of spirit from 1998, but it does mean that every batch carries a little of the one before it.
glen is connected to a valley, and fiddich is connected to deer.