Glenfididdich Special "Old" Reserve

[LWTCS]

My wife was gifted this bottle recently.
Typically Glenfiddich Reserve is a 12 year old.
Accordingly, so is this bottle here. However the distinction here is that the scotch in this bottle was place there sometime in the mid-80s.
After researching the label and bar code, Glenfiddich hasn't used a label that says Special Old Reserve since that time.

Non of these remaining bottles are available anywhere unless being sold by 3rd party type private sales.
Seems pricing ranges from $400s to $800s.

I'm going to stop and pick up a more current iteration and compare the differences between the two.

I'm kind of excited.
Then I'll likely drink it in 3 or 4 days and be sad that I'm incapable of exercising restraint.

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[Twisted Brick]

You lucky dog! What a treat. I'd be stingy with that and make it last at least a week. Maybe.

[SaltyStaves]

The term 'Pure Malt' was outlawed by the Scotch Whisky Association in 2009.

[Saltbush Bill]

Something of a coincidence there Larry......my old man was a bit of a Scotch collector ... I inherited a part of his collection.
As soon as I saw that bottle I thought I recognised it....looked on the shelf and there sits an almost empty one.
The best part is ......I've another that's still full and in its original box.
Until a while back I wasn't a Scotch fan......drinking this stuff is what got me interested and started me tinkering around with Malt Whiskey mashes.
Even the barcode number on mine are the same as yours.

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[HDNB]

in around 2010 my FIL was cleaning out. he made me take his bar collection which included a bottle of Canadian Club with an intact 1963 duty and excise strap over the cap.
having little knowledge of whisky collecting then, what i knew about whisky is that it was good to drink...so off came the cap...it tasted exactly like a musty old library book. I poured it out.
I wish i would have had that today, duty stamp intact, to sell to somebody that collects such things.

library book or no, the whisky was in much better condition than the decades old margarita mixer they insisted i take. i told them just to pour it out, but oh no... i had to take it. to this day i don't know why i poured it out at the hotel instead of just putting it in the bin.

[LWTCS]

Something of a coincidence there Larry......my old man was a bit of a Scotch collector ... I inherited a part of his collection.
As soon as I saw that bottle I thought I recognised it....looked on the shelf and there sits an almost empty one.
The best part is ......I've another that's still full and in its original box.
Until a while back I wasn't a Scotch fan......drinking this stuff is what got me interested and started me tinkering around with Malt Whiskey mashes.
Even the barcode number on mine are the same as yours.
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Shoot Bill,
I would reckon that with the intact packaging, your bottle would / could fetch a maximum sale price if you were so inclined.

[LWTCS]

The term 'Pure Malt' was outlawed by the Scotch Whisky Association in 2009.

I didn't realize that.
Seems that fact alone adds value?

[Bushman]

I have a few bottles as it was my neighbors go to drink. I am sure mine are newer bottles.

[zach]

Does the bottle have a cork stopper with a foil cover?

I'd imagine that it's possible that the cork could be dry with 40+ years of age and stored upright.

Is there a proper protocol for flipping bottles to moisten the cork periodically ?

[LWTCS]

Does the bottle have a cork stopper with a foil cover?

I'd imagine that it's possible that the cork could be dry with 40+ years of age and stored upright.

Is there a proper protocol for flipping bottles to moisten the cork periodically ?

Its a screw top

[higgins]

20 yrs ago I was at a gathering where 1 guy brought a bottle of "Old Overholt 13 yr BiB" rye. He got it off of eBay as a collectors item (I think he paid around $75 back then) and had researched it. He said it was from the last batch barrelled before prohibition that was bottled when prohibition was repealed, 13 yrs later. Apparently the company had a 'Medicinal whiskey' license during prohibition that allowed them to keep their whiskey instead of destroying it.

So bottled in '33, opened in '03, 70 years later.

All this just to say that the bottle, although corked and sealed, had lost enough volume that it was below the curve of the bottle. When he opened it the cork seemed pretty solid. Sadly, I don't recall much about the whiskey, other than it was decent. At the time I was a rookie at sipping whiskey, and it had been mostly Scotch.

[SaltyStaves]

The term 'Pure Malt' was outlawed by the Scotch Whisky Association in 2009.

I didn't realize that.
Seems that fact alone adds value?

You'd think so, but I suspect that the distribution of that bottle was far and wide (evidentially showing up in Australia) and therefore there are still plenty of examples still out there in private hands.
It also seems that there isn't a contemporary version out there. Glenfiddich released this in 2015 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whi ... e-original but that was just a limited release. The bottle you have, simply went away.

[Bushman]

LWTCS, my son isa wine and spirits distributor and found a bottle for $360.

[LWTCS]

LWTCS, my son isa wine and spirits distributor and found a bottle for $360.

Did he buy it? It just researching pricing?

I've since picked up the most recent 12 yo iteration for the side by side. But I'm still too chicken to open the old bottle.
Half way through the new one.

At less than $400 I don't feel terrible about taste testing at the moment. If you would have said he found one for $800 I'm not sure I'd be able to bring myself to crack it open?

[zed255]

Whiskey is meant to be enjoyed. I never understood the notion of collecting it. Yeah, really expensive stuff isn't for quaffing back with ones heathen friends but rather savouring at selected moments with special people, but drink it and enjoy it.

[Bushman]

LWTCS, he did not buy it but bought this for under $100. He said it sells for about $1000.

[LWTCS]

Whiskey is meant to be enjoyed. I never understood the notion of collecting it. Yeah, really expensive stuff isn't for quaffing back with ones heathen friends but rather savouring at selected moments with special people, but drink it and enjoy it.

My rational, alcoholic brain agrees 100%

My rational, non alcoholic, entrepreneurial brain wants to keep it in tact.

[LWTCS]

LWTCS, he did not buy it but bought this for under $100. He said it sells for about $1000.
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Nice.
Great find.

[LWTCS]

Ok I caved and opened it up.
My wife ( on a blind taste test) preferred the older version.
She reckons the newer version taste somehow "artificial " The older verizon a bit more refined.

I attribute this to what ever barrel was used. By that I mean was the barrel pulled off of a 2 yo, 4yo, or 12 yo bourbon? Dunno?

The older version is definitely more peat forward. But still pretty delicate peet notes compared to some scotches. Some fruit notes definitely reveal themselves behind the peat.

The newer version has a more overtly sweet quality.

I'm not sure I've had enough time to consider either version correctly?
I do like them both.
But I have to agree with my wife.
My reasoning is that the older version simply has more layers and they are all just a bit more subtle.

Am I making an accurate judgment? I'll reevaluate tomorrow.

[HDNB]

i read recently that some scotches are dialling back the peat over the last couple decades...tracks that the older one has a bit more in it.

[Wildcats]

After reading this post. I told the wife I want to start collecting whiskey. She just shook her head.