Glenfarclas Christmas Edition 23 Years Old 1991

This official Glenfarclas, a 23 year old, from 1991, cask 10276-77,10283,10285, at 46%, 1200 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. It holds some sixty eight thousand casks on site in dunnage warehouses, with stock from every year since 1953. Its six stills are the largest in Speyside and among the very few still fired directly, now by gas.

It was run slowly off the spirit still, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. It was matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood working deep into the malt. At this evaporative stage ellagitannins lend structure while oxidation builds a richer raisin and treacle. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt.

At an approachable 46% it is soft and fruity. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The mouthfeel is full and coating, the fruit dark and sweet. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.