Glenfarclas Distillery Exclusive “The Stillmen’s Dram” 10 Years Old 2009

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 10 year old, from 2009, cask 1446, at 60.1%, a festival bottling. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt drawn from the largest, direct fired stills in Speyside. It holds some sixty eight thousand casks on site in dunnage warehouses, with stock from every year since 1953.

Drawn from a thick, heavy wash, for a weighty, nutty spirit the sherry then deepens. An Oloroso sherry cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. In integration coconut and vanilla knit with the malt, the orchard notes deepening to sultana, date and chocolate. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years.

At a natural 60.1% it is full and rich. 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 a rich Speyside malt of dried fruit and nut.