Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix

[Mark C]

The whisky’s creation was inspired by the collapse of several Glenfiddich distillery roofs in January 2010, following weeks of heavy snow and record low temperatures. Weighed down by four feet of densely compacted snow, the roofs collapsed and exposed hundreds of maturing oak casks to the night sky. In wintery conditions and temperatures of -19˚C, distillery staff swung into action, working round the clock to clear the snow.

Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix (47.6%abv) has a recommended retail price of £49.99 RRP for a 70cl bottle. It is also available as a 75cl priced at US$89.99.

NCF, cask strength.

More here »

[John Lee]

Tried this yesterday and really enjoyed it - sweet, oily and rather different. I will be getting some.

[Willie JJ]

Unfortunately, the name makes me think that no matter how much ice you add it will still burst into flames in your mouth.

[dstirk]

Tried this at the Whisky Show in London and despite having had some incredible and some overpriced, oversherried whiskies before hand, the Phoenix cut through with its strong apple and pear flavours (is there a more apple/pear flavoured whisky in Scotland?) and you can taste the older whiskies that make up the vatting. Definitely worth a bottle at £50.

David

[Mark C]

I reckon we'll get a bottle for the whisky club.

[John Lee]

Bit puzzled by this. Very little publicity but this whisky seems to have sold out in major retailers before it was even advertised by them. My questions are: did you hear of it and if so where? Did you get any? And Ash where did you get yours whilst "shopping"?

[I tried some at The Whisky Show. There is a a "podcast" about it somewhere...yes a tad embarrassing.]

[MacDeffe]

It was also present at Glasgow Whisky Festival

I tried a sample and it was very good

Steffen

[C57]

John, I got a mailing about it. Either Caskstrength or possibly one of the distilleries. Anyhow I did know about it a couple of weeks ago or more.
Maybe a news item Mark posted?

[ash005]

Bit puzzled by this. Very little publicity but this whisky seems to have sold out in major retailers before it was even advertised by them. My questions are: did you hear of it and if so where? Did you get any? And Ash where did you get yours whilst "shopping"?

[I tried some at The Whisky Show. There is a a "podcast" about it somewhere...yes a tad embarrassing.]

i was going to buy one when i first heard about it - a few weeks back but then forgot !

then saw this on friday

http://www.booths.co.uk/news-article/Booths-to-stock-unique-whisky

so i popped in on saturday for a bottle

according to the member of staff they got 6 at ilkley and had 3 left by sat afternoon


ash .

[jonbob]

I was hoping to get my hands on a bottle of this, but from the sounds of it there won't be too many bottles travelling to Australia.

[DavidUK]

I tasted this at the festival and have to say I wasn't overly impressed.

[Tim F]

We got a very small allocation which was sold before it hit the site to people who called and emailed. Not sure why so popular - maybe the fact that it's a well-priced cask-strength one-off. Quite a few of the staff here bought one, which is unusual. I think there is a little more to come, but will likely not make the site again as we already have a new waiting list.

FWIW, I thought it was a very enjoyable dram. Nice to see a higher strength whisky from one of the big boys at a sensible price (ie under £50) and not really young - the bumf stated the casks were aged between 13 and 30 yrs old.

[Anster]

hopefully I've managed to get a couple, will find out tomorrow. Certainly shifted fast though, most of it on pre-order from what I can make out, but perhaps the 2nd allocations will be a bit more generous? Looking forward to trying this one over Christmas. A good story as well (I'm a sucker for marketing sometimes).

[Aidan]

I ordered a few bottles of this. It's available in a few places, like La Maison du Whisky and whiskysite.nl. Couldn't get La Maison du Whisky's online ordering to work, though.

[RufusA]

Those Connosr guys were very persuasive!

Spoke with Milroys (they featured it in their December newsletter), and they are expecting 10 cases of it for delivery in Mid December, and don't anticipate too many issues with fulfilling orders for those interested.



I imagine the usual suspects will also be getting stock in the next 2 - 3 weeks, so you may still get a little [bottle of] Snow for Christmas!

Rufus.

[John Lee]

Well welcome Rufus. The worst thing about the video is that the Snow Phoenix was the only dram I had had at the time!

I did manage to get a bottle, as I did enjoy it. My intrigue was raised by the fact that 'Fiddich doesn't normally have any big cachet but this does seem to have been snaffled up. I am assuming that this is not for the potential secondary market.

@ash - yes you were literally shopping! A good promotion for Booths I think.
@ David, a shame you didn't enjoy it - but you did enjoy the Blair Athol (you are not too far way from me BTW, so if you ever fancy comparing notes let me know)
@Tim F - it was down to TWE that I got mine, so thanks. I think you're probably right too - cask strength, a bit unusual and marketed in the right sort of place.

[Pete Smoke]

I have my name on a couple bottles, fingers are crossed.

[The Craw]

I contacted WM Grants and they have informed me that.....

All members of The Explorer club will receive an email shortly advising how you can purchase Snow Phoenix.

[ash005]

I contacted WM Grants and they have informed me that.....

All members of The Explorer club will receive an email shortly advising how you can purchase Snow Phoenix.

i'd have thought that this would have happened before it went on sale all over the place?

i'll await my email then


ash .

[The Craw]

Does seem strange, maybe there are a few batches, perhaps one for trade, one for members and one for duty free, who knows? It's a bit confusing though but all will come clear hopefully. Maybe the current snow up north has caused more delay

Call me a cynic but that's what happens when you have distilleries and a bottling plant in Scotland but a marketing department in London..... innit.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

Easy solution, then. Move the distillery and bottling plant to London.

[Pete Smoke]

Does seem strange, maybe there are a few batches, perhaps one for trade, one for members and one for duty free, who knows?

I spoke to a couple retailers that had sold their allocation already, and they have left the shop. A couple other retailers were yet to receive any and happy to add names to their waiting list.

[Anster]

my two SPs landed this afternoon on my doorstep. The first one will be opened on Xmas eve for Santa's dram or the first time it snows in Glasgow this winter, which ever happens first.

[roadrunner]

anyone know of any places this could be acquired in the US? i know binny's is usually good at getting the more hard to find drams...

[Exciseman]

I saw this the other day (before I'd read this thread). I knew nothing about it, but was taken with the story and the packaging, so bought a bottle. Seemingly, only 600 are on general release for the UK (source - lfw)