Glenfarclas The Family Casks 54 Years Old 1959

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 54 year old, from 1959, cask 3226, at 55.2%, 172 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public.

It was distilled to a rich, generous cut, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. An Oloroso sherry cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. At a great, fragile age oxidation rules, sotolon lending maple and dried fig as beeswax and old leather linger. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At its natural 55.2% it is rich and chewy. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.