Glenfarclas 50 Years Old (Festival Bottling)

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 50 year old, at 50%, a festival bottling. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds.

It was run slowly off the spirit still, the direct fired stills lending a nutty depth. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body.

At 50%, undiluted, it is dark and full. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is a richly sherried Speyside single malt.