Glenfarclas 30 Years Old (43%)

A 30 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, at 43%. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt drawn from the largest, direct fired stills in Speyside. Its spirit is matured almost wholly in sherry butts brought up from Jerez. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public. It has been run by six generations of the Grant family, one of Scotch whisky's last truly independent houses.

The spirit was distilled to a rich, generous cut, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin and a soft coconut under the malt. In its ethereal years the malt turns waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a whisper of sotolon over dark fruit. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch.

At an approachable 43% it is soft and fruity. Date, fig and a warm cinnamon, lifted by a sweet oak. Beneath it run dried fruit, dark sugar and a warm spice. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.