Glenfarclas 1990 Edition N°12 Cask #1088+4705+06

A 17 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1990, cask 1088+4705+06, at 46%, 1200 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a richly sherried Speyside single malt, run by the Grant family since 1865. Its spirit is matured almost wholly in sherry butts brought up from Jerez. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public.

The spirit was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. Maturation came in an Oloroso sherry cask, layered over the full Glenfarclas make. Through oxidative maturity the esters concentrate, the orchard notes turning to raisin, fig and a dark chocolate. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch.

At 46% it is rich, fruity and deep. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.