Glenfarclas The Family Casks 37 Years Old 1970

This official Glenfarclas, a 37 year old, from 1970, cask 566, at 53.6%, 497 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a richly sherried Speyside single malt, run by the Grant family since 1865. Its spirit is matured almost wholly in sherry butts brought up from Jerez.

Taken gently through wash and spirit stills, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. Maturation came in an Oloroso sherry cask, layered over the full Glenfarclas make. In its ethereal years the malt turns waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a whisper of sotolon over dark fruit. 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. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth.

At 53.6%, undiluted, it is dark and full. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is a dark, fruity Speyside single malt.