Glenfiddich, the world’s most awarded single malt has just released Time Reimagined, a remarkable collection of aged and exclusive whiskies. The collection represents the ultimate expression of time and the pinnacle of Glenfiddich’s signature style. Each is shaped by the steady passing of time and is presented in a unique casing of bespoke artwork.
The Time Reimagined Collection consists of three extraordinary single malt whiskies that each capture a moment in time. These whiskies have matured over decades developing a richness and depth of flavour that is rarely encountered.
The rarest within this highly sought-after collection is the 50 Year Old; a stunning portrayal of Simultaneous Time, exploring the parallel and complex conditions and effects that have influenced this refined liquid.
The 40 Year Old represents Cumulative Time, drawing attention to the layers of accumulated flavour within its liquid, made possible via the remnant vatting process first pioneered by Glenfiddich.
Completing the collection is the 30 Year Old, embodying Suspended Time, the moment when the Malt Master suspends the development of the whisky, showcasing the purest expression of the distiller’s character.
“I’m really excited to have these beautiful and rare whiskies in Australia. I think that time can often be overlooked as an ingredient in whisky making. Having these exceptional whiskies that embody that important ingredient is something I look forward to sharing with bars around the country.” – Ross Blainey, Glenfiddich Brand Ambassador
Since the 1960s, just three Malt Masters have been at the helm, overseeing the patient development of these rare and precious casks. Several decades later, these single malts have reached the zenith of their maturity and are now ready for release.
The striking packaging created for all three whiskies visually deconstructs and brings to life these articulations of time, telling their stories through maverick design techniques. The perfect counterpoint to these whiskies that have been maturing quietly and evolving in Speyside, Scotland, through the decades.
50 Year Old
The Glenfiddich 50 Year Old liquid takes whiskies from three different American Oak refill casks, all matured in the same warehouse before being married together and finished in an American oak refill cask for two years. There are only 220 decanters of this precious liquid in this release, making it an extremely rare and sought-after collector’s item. Many factors affect whisky maturing in the cask, including climatic conditions: Air pressure, temperature and humidity. The nature of maturation changes with these conditions. Hot summers speed up the maturation process and cold winters slow it down – dramatically affecting the outcome of the liquid. These climatic conditions are unique to that time and day, they can never be replicated. The development of the oak character, in combination with these climatic conditions, gives the whisky its unique taste. The outer casing is an artistic representation of the climatic data that created this extraordinary whisky.
Manuel Jiménez García, a computational architect, decrypted the meteorological data into an algorithm, and generated a physical design language to build the structure’s bespoke form bringing life to every second of every day, of every month of those fifty years.
40 Year Old
The Glenfiddich 40 Year Old is a bold, maverick representation of remnant vatting, a pioneering process where the remnants of the previous batch are carried over each time, and married with the casks selected for each subsequent release. Glenfiddich is the only distillery that uses the remnant vatting process, and this accumulation of flavours over time adds complexity to the taste. Just as the 40 Year Old is composed of layers of flavours that transform, the outer packaging design brings this to life with a bold and unique take on a geological metamorphosis.
The decanter is housed in a stunning sculptural container and stopper made from jesmonite, a material with individual characteristics that render every piece completely unique. Featuring dramatic grooves carved into this innovative stone-like material that expose the intertwining veins which flow through it, each totally random and different from any other, the result is a spectacular vessel which truly embodies the evolution of one thing becoming another.
30 Year Old
The Glenfiddich 30 Year Old depicts the moment when Brian Kinsman, Glenfiddich’s Malt Master, suspends the whisky’s maturation to bottle it, capturing the whisky at the precise moment in time, a perfect expression, preserved for all eternity. The outer packaging design evokes this moment through moving ribbons, each one frozen in time to form elegant cut-out windows, revealing the regal decanter inside. With the moment of maturation captured in all its splendour, the dynamic lines and complex structure create an illusion that the bottle is suspended effortlessly, in mid-air, suspended in time.
Brian Kinsman, Glenfiddich Malt Master, says: “In whisky production, we often talk about the role of Malt Masters and it is our responsibility to find the delicate balance between the taste of the whisky and the intensity of the oak cask. But we don’t always acknowledge how each cask, each bottle, is absolutely unique because of the time it has spent maturing. Both nature and time play huge roles in making whisky taste like it does and Glenfiddich’s Time Reimagined pays homage to this process and the exquisite liquid it helps to create.”
Ross Blainey, Glenfiddich Brand Ambassador says: “I’m really excited to have these beautiful and rare whiskies in Australia. I think that time can often be overlooked as an ingredient in whisky making. Having these exceptional whiskies that embody that important ingredient is something I look forward to sharing with bars around the country.”
If you are interested in stocking these in your bars please contact your local William Grant & Sons representative.