Glenfarclas Single Cask #1318 45 Years Old 1961 (Oloroso)

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 45 year old, from 1961, cask 1318, at 46%, 199 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. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year. It holds some sixty eight thousand casks on site in dunnage warehouses, with stock from every year since 1953.

Taken gently through wash and spirit stills, the direct fired stills lending a nutty depth. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. In its ethereal years the malt turns waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a whisper of sotolon over dark fruit. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At 46% it is smooth and rich. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Beneath it run dried fruit, dark sugar and a warm spice. The close is rich and dark, fruit over a warm spice. This is Glenfarclas's deep, fruity Speyside style.