Glenfarclas 30 Years Old (Germany Exclusive)

A 30 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, at 43%. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, one of the last great family owned distilleries in Scotch. It has been run by six generations of the Grant family, one of Scotch whisky's last truly independent houses. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s.

Distilled in copper pot stills, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin and a soft coconut under the malt. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At an approachable 43% it is soft and fruity. Date, fig and a warm cinnamon, lifted by a sweet oak. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. The finish is long, rich and spiced. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.