Glenfarclas 40 Years Old Scottish Classic (Rob Roy)

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 40 year old, at 43%, 600 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year.

It was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. An Oloroso sherry cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body.

At an approachable 43% it is soft and fruity. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.