The Glenfiddich Experimental series proved to be so successful that the first 2 expressions in the series (IPA and XX) are still produced and their life support stretch far beyond the experimental state and are unofficially entrenched in the official line up.

The series continued with the expensive Winter’s Storm for 3 batches and now comes the forth and latest release ‘Fire And Cane‘. Here in this release Glenfiddich Malt Master Brian Kinsman used both peated and unpeated Glenfiddich whisky and finished them for 3 months in rum casks from South America. This a very intriguing release as the combo of peated whisky and rum casks usually play very nice one with each other.

Glenfiddich Experimental Series #4 Fire And Cane (43%, £42.45/€49.90)

Nose: Soft sweet smoke, pears, brown sugar, smoked banana peels (plantain), vanilla, hints of sour fruits (even a bit tropical. Easy going and nice but after a long time in the glass it disappeared almost completely.

Palate: Thinner than on the nose, sweet smoke, vanilla, burning coal smoke, honey, sour green tropical fruitiness (green banana leaves), nuttiness, not much rum impact here.

Finish: Medium length, dryness, smoky, honey, nuttiness, green fruits.

Thoughts: The rum casks influence is more evident on the nose than on the palate but the sweetness is there and it works well with the peated whisky. Overall it’s a decent offering, very mellow and easy going whisky but I don’t think I’ll get back to it. I wish it would be bottled at 46% without chill filtering and then it could have a future with me. Nevertheless, I predict it will be very successful and there will be many more future batches, elevating it to the status of IPA and XX releases.