Glenfarclas Single Cask #2016 30 Years Old 1970 (Oloroso)

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 30 year old, from 1970, cask 2016, at 49.3%, 261 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. 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.

The spirit was drawn from a thick, heavy wash, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. Maturation came in an Oloroso sherry cask, layered over the full Glenfarclas make. At a great, fragile age oxidation rules, sotolon lending maple and dried fig as beeswax and old leather linger. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit.

At a natural 49.3% it is full and rich. Raisin, chocolate and a warm spice, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.