Glenfarclas The Family Casks 29 Years Old 1993

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 29 year old, from 1993, cask 4439, at 53.8%, 413 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt from Ballindalloch, in the heart of Speyside. Its spirit is matured almost wholly in sherry butts brought up from Jerez.

Drawn from a thick, heavy wash, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the fruit. Through the evaporative decades the esters fold into raisin, fig, beeswax and a bittersweet chocolate. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. 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.

At its natural 53.8% it is rich and chewy. A deep, dark sweetness, lifted by a sweet oak. The body is full and rich, the fruit deep and dark. A long finish carries raisin, chocolate and a treacle. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.