Glenfarclas The Family Casks 38 Years Old 1980 Cask #1916

This official Glenfarclas, a 38 year old, from 1980, cask 1916, at 43.3%, 184 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a richly sherried Speyside single malt, run by the Grant family since 1865. It holds some sixty eight thousand casks on site in dunnage warehouses, with stock from every year since 1953. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds. Its spirit is matured almost wholly in sherry butts brought up from Jerez.

Run slowly off the spirit still, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending a creamy vanilla. At a great, fragile age oxidation rules, sotolon lending maple and dried fig as beeswax and old leather linger. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth.

At an approachable 43.3% it is soft and fruity. A rich, sherried sweetness, lifted by a sweet oak. The body is full and rich, the fruit deep and dark. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.