Glenfarclas The Family Casks 30 Years Old 1988 Cask #7054

This official Glenfarclas, a 30 year old, from 1988, cask 7054, at 52.4%, 596 bottles in all. Glenfarclas, the glen of green grass, is a richly sherried Speyside single malt. It has been run by six generations of the Grant family, one of Scotch whisky's last truly independent houses. Its whiskies are bottled at their natural colour, without chill filtration.

It was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. In its ethereal years the malt turns waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a whisper of sotolon over dark fruit. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch.

At a natural 52.4% it is full and rich. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. The close is rich and dark, fruit over a warm spice. This is Glenfarclas's deep, fruity Speyside style.