Scotland, Speyside. Distillery operational. Owner: William Grant & Sons Ltd. Independent & family-owned

Founded in 1887 by William Grant, Glenfiddich is today one of the five top-selling single malts in the world. The family-owned distillery is a true success story, making the words “freedom” and “independence” an everyday reality by building its own cooperage and bottling chain on site. Known for its balanced and harmonious style, at the very start of the 1960s, The Glenfiddich offered an 8 year old Straight Malt version in a particularly fruity Irish style. But Glenfiddich is best known for its range of Vintage Reserve single casks, such as The Glenfiddich 1963, and its Private Vintage releases, such as The Glenfiddich 1955. More recently, the Rare Collection series attracted followers across the world, offering superb aged versions aged for 40 to 50 years. Two bottles stand out in particular, The Glenfiddich 64 Year Old 1937 - released in 2001, and Glenfiddich 50 Year Old 1939 - released at the very start of the 1990s.

A Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Solera. This edition launched in 1998 imitates the ageing technique used by sherry producers. Bourbon, sherry and new oak casks are assembled in a vat that already contains older whiskies. The distillery claims this vat has not been emptied since 1998 and has always been at least half-full. It is therefore not a solera in the traditional sense, but it does use the same concept of combining young whiskies in casks (in this case a vat) that later become older and older as the whisky is bottled.