On today's episode we have a glass of Fire and Cane from Glenfiddich. A speyside with a highland feel. This is the fourth of Glenfiddich’;s experimental series, and it combines sweet and smoky in a delectable way! All that and more on today's episode of Whiskey Chasers!
Be sure to Like us on Facebook and follow us on instagram, as well as rate and review the show wherever you are listening, it really helps us out.
Our Website is www.whiskeychaserspod.com, check us out! Thanks, and enjoy the show!
Be sure to show some love for the company that brought you today's bottle!
https://www.glenfiddich.com/en-gb/fire-and-cane/
Notes
A mix of smokey and sweet.
Speyside
43% (86 Proof)
Brief History:
- William Grant was the creator of the Glenfiddich brand, but he had some help in creating this.
- He had a 20 year old dream off creating the best dram of whiskey in the valley
- In 1886 William, along with his 7 sons and 3 daughters, built the Glenfiddich distillery by hand and it only took 1 year to complete the construction
- They named the distillery Glenfiddich, which is Valley of the Deer.
- Christmas of 1887 they had the first drop of whiskey made
- Williams great grandson hired coppersmiths through the distillery so that they could be there all the time in case any of the stills needed worked on or new ones needed to be built
- 2 years after that, he built a cooperage to be onsite to build their own barrels. It is one of the few distilleries that has a cooperage on site.
- The shape of the bottle was said to be created to resemble the trinity of water, air and malted barely
Experimental series
- India Pale Ale
- Finished in pale ale casks
- Project 20 (XX)
- A blend of 20 spirits
- Winter storm
- Finished in ice wine barrels for 6 months
- Icewine is VERY sweet, almost a syrup
- Now Fire and cane
- Bourbon aged glenfiddich
- Peated whisky from speyside peat, which is from the hills vs the coast
- Mix those together and finished in Latin Dark Rum casks for 3 months
- No age statement (rumored to be 12-15 years old)
- Orchard experiment (UK only)
- Somerset Pomona Spirit casks
- Blend of apple juice and cider brandyn liquor
Malt master Brian Kinsman
- He worked to start the belvenie line
- Helped launch monkey shoulder
- Scientist by trade but says blending is more art than science
- Says the key to good blending is in the nose.
- My thought is Taste can be changed based on what you had that day, but nose is easier to clear to get an accurate read.
About peat
- Peat is basically moss. It is harvested and dried.
- Its very dense and burns for a long time
- Some areas of scotland still use peat as a heating source for homes
- When the peat is burned to dry out the barely, phenols are released in the smoke, and the barley takes in thome phenols, which give scotch that peaty flavor.
- PPM (Phenol Parts per Million is a way of measuring this.
- Fire and cane is a 5 PPM, which makes it high for a speyside, but overall low
