Head to head · unusually close flavour match
Glenfiddich 12 Year Old vs Monkey Shoulder
No flavour axis separates them, so the difference on record is disclosure: Glenfiddich 12 Year Old states 12 years, Monkey Shoulder states no age.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Glenfiddich 12 Year Old | Monkey Shoulder | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Blended malt |
| Origin | Speyside, Scotland | Speyside, Scotland |
| Age | 12 years | No age statement |
| Strength | 40% ABV | 43% ABV |
| Cask | Ex-bourbon American oak, European oak | Not disclosed |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £38 | £30 |
| Per 10cl | £5.43 | £4.29 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £136 | £100 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Both Speyside whiskies, from different distilleries.
Glenfiddich 12 Year Old is a single malt, Monkey Shoulder a blended malt.
Glenfiddich 12 Year Old states 12 years; Monkey Shoulder states none.
Glenfiddich 12 Year Old lists ex-bourbon american oak and european oak. Monkey Shoulder publishes no cask detail at all.
Neither states chill filtration.
Glenfiddich 12 Year Old: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Glenfiddich 12 Year Old is £8.00 dearer a bottle than Monkey Shoulder.
Strength keeps that ordering: £100 a litre of pure alcohol for Monkey Shoulder against £136.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Glenfiddich 12 Year Old is 17th cheapest and Monkey Shoulder 4th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Glenfiddich 12 Year Old | Monkey Shoulder |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 0 | 1 |
| Sweet | 6 | 7 |
| Fruity | 7 | 6 |
| Spicy | 3 | 5 |
| Woody | 4 | 4 |
| Sherried | 3 | 3 |
| Cereal | 5 | 6 |
| Oily | 4 | 6 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is spicy, 3 against 5.
Identical on woody and sherried.
Each bottle in its own right
Glenfiddich 12 Year Old
Pear and green apple over light malt. The reference point for accessible Speyside.
Full record →Monkey Shoulder
Vanilla, orange and malt, built to survive ice and ginger ale. An honest cocktail malt.
William Grant & Sons does not name the three constituent malts anywhere on its own site — the widely repeated Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie attribution is unofficial. The 43% we list is the producer's US figure; no UK strength is published at all.
Full record →Both listed for highball; only Glenfiddich 12 Year Old for first single malt; only Monkey Shoulder for cocktails and value.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Glenfiddich 12 Year Old and Monkey Shoulder: glenfiddich.com, monkeyshoulder.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.