Glenfarclas Premium Edition Vintage 14 Years Old 1996

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 14 year old, from 1996, cask see notes, at 46%, 6000 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, one of the last great family owned distilleries in Scotch. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. It holds some sixty eight thousand casks on site in dunnage warehouses, with stock from every year since 1953.

It was distilled to a rich, generous cut, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. It was matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood working deep into the malt. In integration coconut and vanilla knit with the malt, the orchard notes deepening to sultana, date and chocolate. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register.

At 46% it is rich, fruity and deep. Baked apple, honey and a dark chocolate, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. The close is rich and dark, fruit over a warm spice. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.