Glenfarclas 30 Years Old (New Label)

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 30 year old, at 43%. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt from Ballindalloch, in the heart of Speyside. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. It holds some sixty eight thousand casks on site in dunnage warehouses, with stock from every year since 1953.

The spirit was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, the direct fired stills lending a nutty depth. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At 43% it is smooth and rich. Raisin, chocolate and a warm spice, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. The finish is long, rich and spiced. This is a dark, fruity Speyside single malt.