I must be getting old when my son can buy be whisky for Christmas. He knows I like a drop and it made the shopping simple for him. He also got me chocolate, so I am very happy. I do not like getting random junk as presents. Luxury consumables are a better gift.
This is Glenfiddich 15 Year Solera Reserve, that Whisky Notes rates quite highly. I have seen various prices, but it is not too expensive. That may have influenced my boy's choice, but I am not complaining. The bottle comes in a sleeve to make it more of a gift item. Glenfiddich (meaning valley of the deer) is a big brand. I have drunk some of their other malts before. I think my dad used to often have a bottle.
It is made in sherry and oak casts before being stored in the huge Solera vat that is never completely emptied, so some of it could be older than 15 years. The review mentions various fruit and caramel flavours. It is quite sweet and not too aggressive.
I thought I would try ice rather than water and it is a good combination. I do not think it needs much watering down. I will let my son have some. We were at a hotel over Christmas and he ordered a Talisker whisky there. That is very different with a more smokey taste that he was not so keen on. I think he is more used to vodka.
On Boxing Day the local morris dancers came to perform in front of the hotel. They are carrying on a tradition that goes back at least 300 years of dancing and then singing the Boar's Head Carol after an actual boar's head is paraded around the crowd. We do have some peculiar old customs and I wonder if people will keep it going as they were all fairly old. You could hear their bells jingling around the hotel for some time afterwards as they enjoyed a drink.
Cheers!