Glenfarclas 25 Years Old (Golden G)

A 25 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, at 43%. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for.

Worked unhurried through the stillhouse, for a weighty, nutty spirit the sherry then deepens. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, the oak gentle behind the spirit. In the oxidative, evaporative years the spirit concentrates to dried fruit, dark chocolate and a waxy, resinous depth. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit.

At an approachable 43% it is soft and fruity. Date, fig and a warm cinnamon, lifted by a sweet oak. The mouthfeel is full and coating, the fruit dark and sweet. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.