Glenfarclas 178th Anniversary

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, at 48.8%, 4800 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, the house behind the pioneering 105 cask strength. Its whiskies are bottled at their natural colour, without chill filtration. It has been run by six generations of the Grant family, one of Scotch whisky's last truly independent houses. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for.

It was distilled to a rich, generous cut, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the fruit. Without an age statement, a dark sugar and dried fruit point to good years in cask. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth.

At a natural 48.8% it is full and rich. A deep, dark sweetness, lifted by a sweet oak. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. A long finish carries raisin, chocolate and a treacle. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.