For the next four weeks, I will take a break from whisky reviews and my personal exploration of whisky. Instead, I am casting my eyes back to the early days of this blog. There are a few reviews that keep receiving significant traffic month after month. Understandably so: they cover four very popular beginner whiskies. Since this blog was born to help other whisky-curious drinkers explore the wonderful, multifaceted world of whisky, I wanted to link back to that spirit. You may have ended up here out of curiosity for whisky. Offering some help with the next steps for your journey seems only fair. So I am starting today with my five alternatives to Glenfiddich 12.
The Glenfiddich 12 style
First of all, if you landed here, it is likely you have tried some Glenfiddich 12 and enjoyed it. Welcome to the club. Many of us have taken that as the first or second step into exploring whisky. Glenfiddich is a fine example of an entry-level whisky with a very distinct style. And an incredibly popular one for a reason: it is mild yet captivating whisky. You can sip it neat and have a solid drinking experience, unlike some of its mass-market peers.
To explain how I picked my alternatives below, I need to frame what Glenfiddich’s defining character is, as this was the starting point for choosing the five suggestions below. Five Glenfiddoch alternatives which offer great options to explore new whiskies and expand your palate.
To me, Glenfiddich always brings to mind a fruit orchard in early summer, carrying both ripe fruits and flowers. It may be an impossibility from a botanical point of view. Luckily, it is very possible in the wonderful world of whisky aromas. This bright, fruity and floral character, with some malt and spice, comes from the distillate itself and from the cask ageing. Although undisclosed, is very likely mostly performed in ex-Bourbon casks with a touch of ex-Sherry casks thrown in.
Check out my review of the Glenfiddich 12-year-old here.
Like many whiskies bottled at 40% and chill-filtered, the mouthfeel and taste are where Glenfiddich 12 ultimately disappoints drinkers seeking a rich experience. And perhaps in its lack of complexity. As a result, my selections below will focus on offering five alternatives which resemble Glenfiddich 12 stylistically. But also alternatives which provide more intensity and body, opening the door to a far richer drinking experience.
Same flavour profile, more intensity: Compass Box Artist Blend
Out of all the whiskies I have tried in the past two years, and out of the five alternatives here, Compass Box Artist Blend is as close to Glenfiddich 12 as you are going to get. And yes, it is a blended whisky with about 45% grain component. Don’t let that deter you: blends, especially well-made ones like Compass Box’s, can offer great value.
If anything, this is slightly more malty in taste while keeping the same fruity and floral core you are familiar with, with a little extra spice coming from a small proportion of Palo Cortado Sherry finished single malt. But the main difference is in the texture. The slight bump to 43% ABV makes for a much more intense and textural tasting experience. The price point is spot on with that of the Glenfiddich 12 (special offers excluded). And while not as ubiquitous, Compass Box products are easy to find online if not in stores.
Check out my review of the Compass Box Artist Blend here.
Same recipe, different outcome: anCnoc 12-year-old
Maybe, instead of something similar to what Glenfiddich 12 tastes, you may be curious to find out how another distillery interprets a similar cask ageing recipe, keeping the ABV at 40% and the ageing at 12 years. You could go for the widely available Glenlivet 12-year-old, but frankly, it is a step down from Glenfiddich for me. Why not try instead one of the few entry-level 40% ABV whiskies that have a loyal following among whisky aficionados? Try anCnoc 12-year-old, made at Knockdhu distillery. The result has similarities, the fruity core, but also noticeable differences: this is a more malty whisky, with a signature balsamic note (eucalyptus for me). And a thicker mouthfeel, arguably coming from the use of wormtubs for the condensation of the spirit off the stills. A great one to try side by side with Glenfiddich 12 to notice similarities and differences.
Check out my review of the anCnoc 12-year-old here.
The next two whisky alternatives to Glenfiddich 12 take a jump into the world of integrity whiskies. Whiskies, that is, that are bottled at 46% or above, non-chill filtered and with no caramel colour added. The result is a purer expression of whisky and one that offers a richer and more multilayered experience than your 40% ABV bottles. They are also, in a way, almost like seasonal variations on the Glenfiddich 12 flavour theme.
A fresher take: Glencadam 10-year-old
Feeling like a fresher, more citrus-driven take on the flavour profile of Glenfiddich 12? Maybe because it is warmer outside, or maybe it is just your taste preference. Be as it may, the Glencadam 10-year-old is your bottle. This is one of my favourite everyday drams and a bottle I always have on my shelf (or a permashelf bottle if you prefer). It is also a unique whisky flavour-wise: fresh, elegant and yet surprisingly still rich on the palate. If Glenfiddich was early summer, this is early spring in a glass. The ageing here is 100% in ex-Bourbon casks, making it a bit of an outlier among this bunch, at least from a technical point of view. As a plus, it is also a great entry point into fully ex-Bourbon aged whiskies.
Check out my review of the Glencadam 10-year-old here.
A warmer take: Thompson Bro.s (Redacted Bros) SRV5
If Glencadam is the spring to Glenfiddich’s summery character, the Thompson Bro.s SRV5 is the fall or autumn counterpart. If I wanted to go for clickbait, I’d say it’s the pumpkin spice of the bunch, but I hate that overplayed and abused marketing gimmick. Instead, this is like someone took Glenfiddich’s orchard fruit and baked them into a lovely buttery pie with a good sprinkling of cinnamon. Add to that some mulchy vegetal notes and a little waxiness, and you have a warm, complex dram that feels like a cosy early Autumn day.
One word of warning: out of all the suggestions here, this might be the hardest to find – the Thompson Bro.s (or Redacted Bros for my US readers) production and distribution are still on the small side, but improving. If your local doesn’t carry it, there are a number of reliable online whisky shops which carry this when available.
Check my review of the Thompson Bro.s SRV5 here.
My top pick: Compass Box Orchard House
While Glenfiddich 12 is a pleasant whisky to sip, after a while, I was left wanting more. More from the drinking experience for sure, but also more complexity. Is there a way to retain those bright, fruity, and floral notes while adding an extra dimension to them? Sure thing! Enter Compass Box’s Orchard House, an integrity-bottled Blended Malt made mostly of ex-Bourbon Benrinnes, Linkwood, and Clynelish, and 8% Sherried Speyside malt.
The combination of these four malts adds richer fruity notes and a certain waxiness from the Clynelish. But the real surprise, which lifts this to a special spot, is the addition of just 2% peated Caol Ila from Islay. Not enough to make the whisky taste peated, but enough to add a whiff of smoke and pepper in the background, creating a lovely contrast to the fruity core of this dram. If you are looking for something as close as possible to a Glenfiddich 12, yet more fulfilling at any level of drinking experience, this is my pick.
Check my review of the Compass Box Orchard House here.
Wrapping things up
Glenfiddich is one of the most popular whiskies on the market and a very solid whisky for what it is: a low ABV, mass-market product made for consistency. I do not mean that in a negative way, quite the contrary. If all whiskies in this category maintained the standard set by Glenfiddich, I am sure we would have more whisky fans out there. And it is a great springboard to begin exploring whisky. The five alternatives to Glenfiddich 12 I shared above are a great starting point if you love this flavour profile. But maybe you have other suggestions. If you do, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. And if you tried some of these alternatives, let me know what you thought below.
See you soon with another post on whisky alternatives, next time leaning more into sherry.
Interested in my take on a specific whisky style? Check the full Journey here and jump to the relevant Chapter.
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