Glenfarclas 8 Years Old (Festival Bottling)

This official Glenfarclas, an 8 year old, at 40%, a festival cask. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, the house behind the pioneering 105 cask strength. Its six stills are the largest in Speyside and among the very few still fired directly, now by gas. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. Its spirit is matured almost wholly in sherry butts brought up from Jerez. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds.

The spirit was drawn from a thick, heavy wash, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the American oak lending vanilla and a light honey. At an extractive age eugenol lends a clove note and lactones a coconut, the spirit rich, fruity and full. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch.

Reduced to 40%, it is mellow and sweet. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, lifted by a sweet oak. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.