Glenfarclas Cask Strength 26 Years Old 1970

A 26 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1970, cask 2015, at 53.2%, 264 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, one of the last great family owned distilleries in Scotch. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year.

Distilled in copper pot stills, for the rich, sherried make Glenfarclas is known for. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, the oak gentle behind the spirit. In the oxidative, evaporative years the spirit concentrates to dried fruit, dark chocolate and a waxy, resinous depth. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At a hearty 53.2% it carries real weight. A rich, sherried sweetness, lifted by a sweet oak. Beneath it run dried fruit, dark sugar and a warm spice. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.