Glenfarclas Specially selected by Han & Maurice van Wees in Scotland on 13th 42 Years Old 1966

This official Glenfarclas, a 42 year old, from 1966, cask 3349, at 44%, 176 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt drawn from the largest, direct fired stills in Speyside. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year.

Worked unhurried through the stillhouse, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin and a soft coconut under the malt. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At an approachable 44% it is soft and fruity. A deep, dark sweetness, lifted by a sweet oak. It is full and fruity, the spirit carrying the cask. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.