In the four seasonal circles of life, spring is considered the time to “reset”. Think about it. The long dark days of winter are finally done and dusted and as the chilly season fades away, we welcome the warm and revitalising gift that is spring. At its very essence, spring is a season of the real three Rs: renewal, refreshment and restoration. Perhaps this is why they party so hard every spring in Game of Thrones. Those certainly are some punishing winters the Starks and Lannisters are forced to endure, and unlike us, they don’t have their mates at Glenfiddich to help them get through it, either.
The three R’s are exactly at the heart of what the iconic Scotch producer expresses with the launch of its upcoming Time Reimagined collection. And boy, what a stellar collection it is. Consisting of three of the most extraordinary single malt whiskies in the Glenfiddich portfolio, the latest lineup is truly something to get excited about.
Glenfiddich 30-Year-Old – Suspended Time
Effortlessly bridging the past with the present, Time Reimagined boasts a pool of 50, 40 and 30-year-old whiskies designed to be enjoyed for many more to come. What will no doubt prove to be a much sought-after collection amongst cashed-up consumers commences with the 30-year-old, Suspended Time.
According to the fabled producer, this release The Glenfiddich depicts the very moment that Brian Kinsman, Glenfiddich’s malt master, suspends the whisky’s maturation to bottle it. A painstaking effort to capture lightning in a bottle, this process is characterised by a precise moment in time that can make or break a perfect expression. it’s a sentiment that flows through to the outer packaging design as well, which evokes this moment through moving ribbons, frozen in time to form cut-out windows to reveal the decanter inside.
“In whisky production, we often talk about the role of malt masters and it’s our responsibility to find the delicate balance between the taste of the whisky and the intensity of the oak cask,” Brian Kinsman, Glenfiddich malt master said. “But we don’t always acknowledge how each cask, each bottle, is absolutely unique because of the time it has spent maturing. Both nature and time play huge roles in making whisky taste like it does and Glenfiddich’s Time Reimagined pays homage to this process and the exquisite liquid it helps to create.”
Colour: Rich bronze
Nose: An exquisitely structured balance of hearty oak married with sweet, subtle sherry notes.
Taste: Deep, woody flavours interlaced with delicate floral accents, in a complex combination.
Finish: Warm, honeyed and exceptionally long-lasting.
ABV: 43%
Glenfiddich 40-Year-Old – Cumulative Time
Representing Cumulative Time, the 40-Year-Old is rich with flavours evolving from deep fruit notes, finishing with subtle hints of bitter chocolate and peat. According to the label, the expression represents remnant vatting, a process where the remnants of the previous batch are carried over each time. From there, they are married with the casks selected for each subsequent release.
It’s a unique process that isn’t commonly used. In fact, Glenfiddich is the only distillery that still makes use of the remnant vatting process, which is a testament to the label’s traditional approach to distillation. The decanter is housed in a stunning sculptural container and stopper made from jesmonite.
Colour: Dark mahogany
Nose: A deeply layered expression of dried fruits, dark chocolate, roasted coffee and ripe black cherries. Completed with subtle waves of gentle wood smoke, polished leather and cloves.
Taste: A luxuriously full and silky smooth taste, with memories of past releases in every nuanced note. Evolving from deep dried fruit notes to rich fruitcake, dates, raisins and stewed apples, before giving way to dry oaky notes, with subtle hints of bitter chocolate and peat.
Finish: Complex, memorable, and exquisitely long-lasting.
ABV: 44.6%
Glenfiddich 50-Year-Old – Simultaneous Time
Finally, the rarest within this five-star collection is the 50-Year-Old Simultaneous Time, which sounds almost too good to be true. Taking whiskies from three different American Oak refill casks, all matured in the same warehouse, this expression sees them married together and finished in an American oak refill cask for two years.
As we all know, factors such as air pressure, humidity and temperature can greatly impact the maturation process, and after 50 years, this whisky has seen them all. Extremely limited, only 220 decanters of this release will be made available worldwide, with the outer casing set to mark “an artistic representation of the climatic data that created this extraordinary whisky”. The piece arrives by way of Manuel Jiménez García, a computational architect, who decrypted the meteorological data into an algorithm, before transforming it into the wild structure that remains.
“William Grant, the visionary founder of Glenfiddich, had a dream to create the best dram in the valley,” Claudia Falcone, Glenfiddich global brand director said. “These three expressions are the perfect illustration of that aspiration. The Time Reimagined collection bottles that maverick spirit and captures a fleeting moment in time which bridges the past with the present. The quality of these liquids has inspired the distinctive packaging that beautifully tell the stories of these single malts and is a fitting tribute to the unpredictable nature of time itself.”
Colour: Antique gold
Nose: Rich orange peel and clementine meet complex notes of Madeira cake and muscovado sugar. Maturing over time into the dewy petrichor of a Dufftown morning, mingling with flowering geranium.
Taste: A lingering sweetness softens into deep, silky smooth oak tannin and sun-dried vanilla.
Finish: Oaky, sweet and incredibly long lasting.
ABV: 43.8%
Possessing a silky-smooth oak tannin and sun-dried vanilla, and finishing off with oaky and sweet overtures, it’s a perfect way to both compliment and complete the collection. As you can see, it’s not hard to understand why Time Reimagined is considered the pinnacle of Glenfiddich’s signature distillery style. The incendiary bottle artwork alone suggests this is no regular collection and, take it from us, it certainly isn’t.
The Glenfiddich 30-Year-Old retails for $1,680, Glenfiddich 40-Year-Old $6,450, and Glenfiddich 50-Year-Old $64,500. As you would expect these rare casks are strictly limited. In fact, only a small number will be made available in Australia at luxury whisky bars, and select retailers including Dan Murphy’s from November. With releases this good, it’s little wonder Glenfiddich holds the honour of the “world’s most awarded single malt scotch whisky”. Happy spring!
