Glenfarclas 12 Years Old (750 Jahre Berlin)

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 12 year old, at 43%. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt from Ballindalloch, in the heart of Speyside. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch.

It was distilled to a rich, generous cut, for a weighty, nutty spirit the sherry then deepens. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending a creamy vanilla. In integration coconut and vanilla knit with the malt, the orchard notes deepening to sultana, date and chocolate. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years. 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. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At an approachable 43% it is soft and fruity. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, lifted by a sweet oak. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.