Dufftown, 11th June 2010: Saw the world’s most awarded single malt Scotch whisky, Glenfiddich, announced details of its 1978 Vintage Reserve, selected by a global panel, with a nosing and tasting discussed live via the microblogging site, Twitter.
The very first of its kind, this groundbreaking virtual selection was Glenfiddich Malt Master, Brian Kinsman’s inaugural Vintage Reserve selection. After two hours of tweeted discussion, in front of an online audience, cask number 28152 was selected from a shortlist of four American oak hogshead casks, all filled within minutes of each other, from the same batch, on 25th September 1978.
In nosing and tasting samples of the four diverse whiskies, the panel of whisky bloggers from around the world was able to explore first hand the enormous impact oak has on the maturation process and see for themselves how each cask imbues the whisky with its own unique character. When tasting cask no. 28152, all panellists picked up notes of orange marmalade, hints of toffee and vanilla as well as boiled sweets and candied fruit.** The cask, which has a current strength of 50% ABV*, will produce approximately 200 70cl cask-strength bottles.
Brian Kinsman, commented: “It was truly exciting to be part of such a pioneering process. To have an expert selection panel, based all over the world, meet virtually, in real time, for a nosing and tasting was fantastic. Tweeting seemed to help people refine their thoughts and impressions of to the key aromas and tastes they picked up on. I’m delighted that cask number 28152 has been selected as the 2010 Vintage Reserve; it is an exceptional single malt with classic Glenfiddich fruit characteristics on the nose.”
Using #vintagereserve, the panel and Brian Kinsman Tweeted their thoughts and discussed the differences between the four shortlisted casks – all of which were nosed and tasted with and without water, before eventually deciding on their favourite.
The full conversation can be viewed on Twitter at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23vintagereserve or at http://glenfiddichvintagereserve.com.
When it is released later this year, the 1978 Glenfiddich Vintage Reserve will join the award-winning range of Glenfiddich single malt Scotch whiskies which also includes Glenfiddich 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old, 18 Year Old, 21 Year Old, 30 Year Old, 40 Year Old, and 50 Year Old.
