Price: £45.00 (£40.50 for W Club Members)
ABV: 43%
Chill Filtered: Yes
Natural Colour: No
Supplier: The Whisky Shop
Description: The world's first Single Malt Scotch Whisky finished in India Pale Ale craft beer casks. This expression is the fruit of a collaboration with a local Speyside craft brewer and imbues the whisky with zesty citrus and tangy hops from the oak casks that previously held a bold Speyside IPA.
Price: £50.00 (£45.00 for W Club Members)
ABV: 47%Chill Filtered: No
Natural Colour: No
Supplier: The Whisky Shop
Description: Project XX ("twenty") is the result of one of the most ambitious malt experiements undertaken by Glenfiddich. Bringing together 20 whisky experts from 16 countries around the world, Project XX is a combination of each expert's selected cask from the Glenfiddich warehouse, carefully married together in a small batch vatting by Malt Master, Brian Kinsman.
General Comments: Both these whisky's offer good quality for the RRP. I find the IPA Finish interesting and am able to recommend it to those individuals who enjoy craft ales and were interested in the bottling, but held back due to concerns about its quality and it's appearance on supermarket shelves. Any fears have no foundation. The superior whisky here though is the sherry cask influenced Project XX; these twenty casks have been married well to produce a subtle and entertaining sherry influenced whisky. The Project XX is simply much more of my style of whisky; if I wanted hops then I'd frankly drink a craft APA. I feel that Glenfiddich has taken a step forward here; with slick marketing and attractive bottles they are looking to bring a worthwhile product to the untapped masses; unlike Haig Club which I'm afraid, only vaguely resembles whisky.
IPA: A slightly lighter colour than the XX; it has a rich nose and there is definitely a feint hoppiness behind the rich honeyed scent. A whiff of orchard fruits also comes through; Braeburn apples and Williams pears.
There is a richness to the palate too which is not overtly reduced by the chill filtration as such I suspect that alot of first fill American White Oak has been used in the maturation. The hops come through frairly early and build to leave an interesting, booming bitterness that is distinctly IPA. However the rich sweetness of the whisky holds on the palate; neither the vanillas or the hops becoming too powerful, and gives the whisky a nice balance.
As with some beers, I can imagine too many glasses of this would 'clagg' the palate, as the hop's linger and fill the mouth. The whisky is a unique and certainly not unpleasant experience; the increased ABV has help with the richness of the flavour, and Glenfiddich have probably got the hop balance right with the three months maturation in the beer seasoned casks. This whisky is fine; and an interesting bottling for craft beer enthusiasts to give a try.
XX: Here I'm trying the second batch of the Project XX: the first bottle is still squirreled away for a later date. The darker colour of this whisky is reflecting in the nose which gives of a traditional sherried fruits scent. Currants and raisins are very much present and correct; along with hints of stewed rhubarb. There is a marzipan element too the richness, evolving into toffee, and this is totally lacking in 'off-notes' that so often accompany Glenfiddich bottling's in this price range. The nose makes me eager to taste the whisky to see if it is a classical Speyside combination of bourbon and sherry wood.
The palate is rich with marzipan, caramel syrup which, as the nose does, evolves into toffee. The tip of the tongue gets a sensation of sucked toffee penny as the buzzing sherried fruits start to come to the fore. A dark chocolate and espresso bitterness develops as the oak hones in on the palate and that is how the whisky finishes The fruits never really explode in the mouth but seem to be infused in the sugars and syrups; raspberries, cherries, evolving into sticky toffee pudding style dates. As the richness pulls back and the oak sets in those raspberries return.
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