Glenfarclas Single Cask 10 Years Old 2014

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 10 year old, from 2014, cask 1579, at 60%, 304 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. Its six stills are the largest in Speyside and among the very few still fired directly, now by gas. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for.

It was drawn from a thick, heavy wash, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin rounding out as esters lend riper orchard fruit and a chocolate depth. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch.

Bottled at a cask strength 60%, it is deep and concentrated. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.