Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix

Overall rating: 87.11/100
votes: 360

Category: Single Malt
Distillery: Glenfiddich
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Bottled: 05.01.2010
Casktype: American Oak & Oloroso Sherry Casks
Number of bottles: 12000
Strength: 47.6 % Vol.
Size: 700 ml 750 ml
Bottle code: L34V49890501
Barcode: 5010327335377
Added on: 20 Nov 2010 11:49 pm

Average value

€ 731,37

Found 21 online shops. Lowest price:

€ 445,00

	Master of Malt	£ 595,00

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91 × in wishlist

360 × member ratings

1593 × in collection

Default bottling

There is 1 other release…

Whisky Reviews for Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix

49 users have left a review for this whisky and scored it an average of 87.11 points

hs305 scored this whisky 86 points
23 May 2017 10:30 pm
[May, 2017] NAS = Never Accept Stupid marketing! Due to heavy snowfall (caused by global warming, what else?) the roof of several Glenfiddich warehouses collapsed and damaged some casks that had to be bottled subsequently. This was all just ordinary Glenfiddich stuff, nothing special. But then a great marketing genius of Glenfiddich created the story of the "Snow Phoenix" and all of a sudden the ordinary Glenfiddich transformed into something very special worth up to ten times of its original release price today. I never bought a bottle of this stuff as I generally do not believe into marketing fairytales. Nevertheless as I have the chance to try a sample today I am quite curious...

To be honest, this is easy-to-drink Glenfiddich as I drank a lot of comparable Glenfiddich releases before - nothing special about it that is worth any price premium (and by the way, the distillery itself demanded no significant price premium upon its release). The nose is soft and shy as all Glenfiddich noses. The mouthfeel is gentle and a little peppery, nothing remarkable about that as well. And the taste is very sweet with just hints of fruits and chocolate as is the finish of medium length.

So why the hell should I pay more than 40-50 Euro for such an ordinary dram - just to believe into the mysterious "Snow Phoenix"? This is the perfect example of a small-scale self-reinforcing whisky bubble - so everyone with a clear mind can easily extrapolate what this means with respect to the overall whisky bubble that is inflating day by day...
- Nose
  
  85 85
- Taste
  
  84 84
- Finish
  
  86 86
Whisky-Connaisseur did not rate this whisky
07 Dec 2015 5:58 pm
An unique whisky created by chance. Undoubtedly, a cracking packaging,
but a cracking dram as well. A flavourful, inviting nose leads to a
powerful, round swell on the palate, mellowing into a long, smooth and
enjoyable finish. Very pleasant, well-balanced, and seductive. A
dignified and complex single malt.

https://www.facebook.com/Whisky-Connaisseur-550443305109776

Nose

A fine oloroso sherry note with delicate toffee and lingering creamy
vanilla. This is complemented by a vigorous scent of ripe fruit, apples
in particular, and luscious stair pear. Subtle heather and blossom honey
emerge with a gentle touch of nuttiness and a whiff of smoke behind.
Very aromatic indeed!

Taste

Rich and round. Sweet maltiness with shortbread, lingering custard and
ripe stewed fruit. Creamy and nicely appetising. Getting spicy with
gentle candied ginger, white pepper and a touch of charred wood. Heather
with blossom honey, and a dry note of dark chocolate and subtle smoke
towards the finish. A succulent pleasure.

Finish

Significantly long. Fruity with luscious green apples. Spicy oak with
pepper and lingering sherried malt. Creamy vanilla with a gentle smoky
nutty touch on the tail. Simply wonderful.

WITH WATER: Water
emphasizes the fruity proportion of this beauty with more apples coming
through both on the nose and palate. There's more sweet maltiness with a
reserved spiciness on the palate. The finish is long and sweet with
delicate malted barley, and lingering spice.
TechnOBY scored this whisky 85 points
04 Mar 2019 3:03 pm
Nose

84 84

Taste

85 85

Finish

85 85
DramGoodLife scored this whisky 83 points
28 Oct 2018 5:56 pm
A faultless whisky but just a tad too basic

Nose

85 85

Big vanilla notes backed up by new oak, think ice pop sticks. Dollop of thick honey with some prickly spice. Alcohol quite dominant. With time gentle hints of green apple appear.
Water takes away the bite and leaves the rest.

Taste

83 83

Big honey on the palate, still some oak bit a little older than the nose. Quite a lot of spice, big and powerful with a touch of lemon citrus.

Finish

80 80

Short on lemons and new oak.
With water the finish gains a bitter oak note.
JuBO scored this whisky 91 points
30 Jul 2018 10:29 am
- Nose
  
  95 95
- Taste
  
  95 95
- Finish
  
  95 95
ArthurHaver scored this whisky 94 points
11 Jul 2018 9:05 pm
- Nose
  
  96 96
- Taste
  
  92 92
- Finish
  
  100 100
Malinois scored this whisky 85 points
01 Mar 2018 10:02 pm

My short notes: young on the nose, in the taste the old cask speak but the finish is short what is always a sin.
gerardsmike scored this whisky 80 points
17 Jul 2017 4:55 pm
- Nose
  
  82 82
- Taste
  
  80 80
- Finish
  
  79 79
Goethe scored this whisky 82 points
17 Jun 2017 8:23 pm
I don't know what the whole story around is all about when you get something boring like this from Glenfiddich.Concerning price/performance ratio: 4/10

Nose

Sweet. Honey, yellow and some red fruits, vanilla, some grapes.

Taste

Honey, fruits, dry and slightly bitter.

Finish

Medium. The oak gets more dominant after a while and so does the dryness.
Hemdl scored this whisky 82 points
11 Apr 2017 8:17 pm
Legend or not - I find it now at the second attempt at most average. The nose should be here still the most interesting part, taste came there since the last years quite interesting drops on the market.
What makes this so incredibly "valuable"? No idea. Whether it is the outer packaging, or the hope of adding value - I do not know. At any rate, I'm not sad that I've exchanged this bottling almost for the first time for another bottling. I taste pretty little and compared to others, I consider the significantly overvalued (!). Was there a self-fulfilling prophecy ("costs much - must be good") reason could be?
The original € 60 issue price, I think in any case more appropriate, rather less.

Nose

Bright fruits, many apples and grapes. For almost 48% Vol. Amazingly strong. Distinct honey note, a few pears. The sherry casks I do not necessarily realize now, even after some time in the glass. Pleasant Speysider, which brings a nice fruit note.

Taste

At first, the gentle fruit mixture from the nose is still there, then it gets pretty quickly over. Distinct tannins now to feel, spicy oak. It becomes dry, slightly nutty and also slight bitterness. Should that be the influence of the older barrels?
In any case, the sherry casks are not really noticeable, but rather like a typical Speysider with a lot of wood influence.

Finish

Dry, medium long. Worn here, too, of the spice of the oak or slight bitterness. The fruit notes have not really made it to here, for my taste here at best average. Recently, some significantly more interesting bottlings came onto the market.

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