Glenfarclas Single Cask #3764 24 Years Old 2001 (Ex-Bourbon)

A 24 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 2001, cask 3764, at 55.7%, a festival cask. Glenfarclas, the glen of green grass, is a richly sherried Speyside single malt. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public.

The spirit was distilled in copper pot stills, for a weighty, nutty spirit the sherry then deepens. A bourbon barrel held it, the wood adding a soft honey over the fruit. In the oxidative, evaporative years the spirit concentrates to dried fruit, dark chocolate and a waxy, resinous depth. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt.

Bottled at a cask strength 55.7%, it is deep and concentrated. Baked apple, honey and a dark chocolate, lifted by a sweet oak. The body is full and rich, the fruit deep and dark. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is a dark, fruity Speyside single malt.