Glenfarclas 12 Years Old (New Label)

A 12 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, at 43%. Glenfarclas is a deep, dark Speyside malt of dried fruit, nut and spice. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds. Its whiskies are bottled at their natural colour, without chill filtration. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for.

It was run slowly off the spirit still, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. By the integrating teens the raw notes fade and esters build, the rich spirit growing rounder and darker. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body.

At 43% it is rich, fruity and deep. Baked apple, honey and a dark chocolate, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. The close is rich and dark, fruit over a warm spice. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.