Glenfarclas The Family Casks 19 Years Old 2002

A 19 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 2002, cask 3335, at 55.4%, 651 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, one of the last great family owned distilleries in Scotch. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s.

The spirit was distilled to a rich, generous cut, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. It was fully matured in a Port cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. Through oxidative maturity the esters concentrate, the orchard notes turning to raisin, fig and a dark chocolate. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth.

At 55.4%, undiluted, it is dark and full. Baked apple, honey and a dark chocolate, with red berry, plum and a dry spice from the cask. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is a richly sherried Speyside single malt.