Glenfarclas 15 Years Old

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 15 year old, at 46%. Glenfarclas is a richly sherried Speyside single malt, run by the Grant family since 1865. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year.

The spirit was distilled in copper pot stills, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. A bourbon barrel held it, the wood adding a soft honey over the fruit. Into oxidative maturity, slow air builds ripe esters and a darker chocolate, fig and date depth. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At 46% it is smooth and rich. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, lifted by a sweet oak. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.