Speyside distillery Glenfiddich has released Grand Cru, a 23-year-old single malt finished in cuv\u00e9e wine casks from France\u2019s Champagne region.<\/p>\n
Glenfiddich Grand Cru has been matured in American oak and a small number of ex-Sherry casks, before being finished for four months in a mixture of first-fill and second-fill French oak casks, which \u2018have been used in fermenting the wine that will eventually become Champagne\u2019.<\/p>\n
The majority of Champagne producers use stainless steel tanks for the primary fermentation of their still wines, although a small handful of producers, including Krug, Bollinger, Lanson and Veuve Cliquot, ferment using oak casks which add a creamy, vanilla quality.<\/p>\n
Grand Cru is the first expression in Glenfiddich\u2019s new Grand range, a series of whiskies with \u2018a connecting factor of age\u2019 that will continue with second and third releases in 2020.<\/p>\n
The Grand range will function separately to Glenfiddich\u2019s Experimental Series, its range of \u2018innovation\u2019 whiskies that include Glenfiddich IPA Cask, XX, Winter Storm and Fire and Cane.<\/p>\n
Grand Cru is the first Glenfiddich to be finished in French cuv\u00e9e casks, and was created to \u2018play on the liquid synonymous with celebration but that brings the substance and smoothness of single malt to the moment\u2019.<\/p>\n