Glenfarclas 35 Years Old

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 35 year old, at 43%. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt drawn from the largest, direct fired stills in Speyside. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch. It has been run by six generations of the Grant family, one of Scotch whisky's last truly independent houses.

The spirit was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. Maturation came in an Oloroso sherry cask, layered over the full Glenfarclas make. In its ethereal years the malt turns waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a whisper of sotolon over dark fruit. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. 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.

Reduced to 43%, it is mellow and sweet. A rich, sherried sweetness, 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.