Glenfiddich 40 Year Old ‘Cumulative Time’ Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700ml Release No.19

The Glenfiddich Distillery was founded in 1886 by William Grant in Dufftown in the Speyside region of Scotland. The name Glenfiddich derives from the Scottish Gaelic Gleann Fhiodhaich meaning “valley of the deer”. Once the spirit has matured, the whisky is cut with pure Robbie Dhu spring water. Glenfiddich has a bottling hall onsite along with a large bottling plant in Bellshill.

It is visible in a rocky valley’s many solid strata; laid down over millennia, worn smooth by wind and rain. And with layers comes complexity. Which is why Glenfiddich 40 is so much more than an exemplary single malt. This rare single malt is made through remnant vatting, a pioneering process in which the Glenfiddich malt master carries one batch over, time and again, and marries it with the casks selected for each subsequent release. Cask after cask, season after season, it absorbs the evolving flavours of the passing years. It is time, age, experience accumulated. 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. 

Since the first release of Glenfiddich 40 Year Old in 2000, its special marrying tun has never been emptied, with some of the previous batch saved to provide the backbone of each new release. This year, Brian Kinsman added two butts and five hogsheads of whisky to the mix, creating a rich and sherry-led expression, weightier than previous editions.

The sculptural packaging design is inspired by geological metamorphosis and made from jesmonite (a resin-based material used for sculpture and decoration), which is streaked with both upcycled copper, which represents Glenfiddich’s stills, and green glass, which nods to the ever-popular Glenfiddich 12 Year Old, giving a stone-like appearance.

Luxuriously full and silky smooth, with memories of past releases in every nuanced note. Evolving from deep dried fruit notes to rich fruitcake, dates, raisins and stewed apples, with sweet cooking spices and vanilla, before giving way to dry oaky notes, with subtle hints of bitter chocolate and peat. The finish is complex, memorable and exquisitely long-lasting. 

The Finer Details
Style – Scotch Whisky
Country – Scotland
Bottle Size – 700ml
ABV – 45.7%