Glenfarclas 35 Years Old 1959 Cask #1813 (Signatory)

This Glenfarclas comes from Signatory Vintage, the Edinburgh house that bottles at Edradour above Pitlochry, a 35 year old, distilled in 1959, from cask 1813, at 52.6%, one of 248 bottles. Glenfarclas is a richly sherried Speyside single malt, run by the Grant family since 1865. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds. It holds some sixty eight thousand casks on site in dunnage warehouses, with stock from every year since 1953. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public.

Distilled in copper pot stills, the direct fired stills lending a nutty depth. It was matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood working deep into the malt. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At 52.6%, undiluted, it is dark and full. Raisin, chocolate and a warm spice, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. The close is rich and dark, fruit over a warm spice. This is Glenfarclas's deep, fruity Speyside style.