Glenfarclas 12 Years Old (Festival Bottling)

This official Glenfarclas, a 12 year old, at 59.3%, a festival cask. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt drawn from the largest, direct fired stills in Speyside. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds.

It was distilled to a rich, generous cut, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the fruit. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin rounding out as esters lend riper orchard fruit and a chocolate depth. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch.

Bottled at a cask strength 59.3%, it is deep and concentrated. Date, fig and a warm cinnamon, lifted by a sweet oak. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. The finish is long, rich and spiced. This is a rich Speyside malt of dried fruit and nut.