Glenfarclas Premium Edition 13 Years Old 2000

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 13 year old, from 2000, cask 5865-5873, at 46%, 6000 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, one of the last great family owned distilleries in Scotch. 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.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still, for a weighty, nutty spirit the sherry then deepens. It was matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood working deep into the malt. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin rounding out as esters lend riper orchard fruit and a chocolate depth. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit.

At an approachable 46% it is soft and fruity. A deep, dark sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is full and fruity, the spirit carrying the cask. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a rich Speyside malt of dried fruit and nut.