Glenfarclas 25 Years Old 1970 (Ex-Bourbon)

A 25 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1970, at 43%, 1200 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt drawn from the largest, direct fired stills in Speyside. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public. It holds some sixty eight thousand casks on site in dunnage warehouses, with stock from every year since 1953.

It was distilled to a rich, generous cut, for the rich, sherried make Glenfarclas is known for. A bourbon barrel held it, the wood adding a soft honey over the fruit. In the oxidative, evaporative years the spirit concentrates to dried fruit, dark chocolate and a waxy, resinous depth. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years.

Bottled at 43%, it is rounded and full. Raisin, chocolate and a warm spice, lifted by a sweet oak. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a rich Speyside malt of dried fruit and nut.