Glenfarclas Distillery Exclusive 12 Years Old 2004

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 12 year old, from 2004, cask 1909, at 58.5%, 657 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, the house behind the pioneering 105 cask strength. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds.

It was distilled to a rich, generous cut, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. Maturation came in a Port cask, layered over the full Glenfarclas make. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin rounding out as esters lend riper orchard fruit and a chocolate depth. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years.

Bottled at a cask strength 58.5%, it is deep and concentrated. Fig, walnut and a bittersweet chocolate, with red berry, plum and a dry spice from the cask. The mouthfeel is full and coating, the fruit dark and sweet. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.