Glenfarclas Limited Rare Bottling 21 Years Old 1996

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 21 year old, from 1996, at 46%, 12000 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a deep, dark Speyside malt of dried fruit, nut and spice. It holds some sixty eight thousand casks on site in dunnage warehouses, with stock from every year since 1953. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for.

It was distilled in copper pot stills, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. Through oxidative maturity the esters concentrate, the orchard notes turning to raisin, fig and a dark chocolate. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register.

Reduced to 46%, it is mellow and sweet. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The body is full and rich, the fruit deep and dark. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.