Glenfarclas The Family Casks 13 Years Old 1994 Cask #3862

A 13 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1994, cask 3862, at 57.5%, 305 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for.

It was taken gently through wash and spirit stills, the direct fired stills lending a nutty depth. It was matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood working deep into the malt. By the integrating teens the raw notes fade and esters build, the rich spirit growing rounder and darker. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch. 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.

At its natural 57.5% it is rich and chewy. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The mouthfeel is full and coating, the fruit dark and sweet. A long finish carries raisin, chocolate and a treacle. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.