Glenfarclas Single Cask #2891 29 Years Old 1969 (Oloroso)

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 29 year old, from 1969, cask 2891, at 46.2%, 255 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, the house behind the pioneering 105 cask strength. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch. Its whiskies are bottled at their natural colour, without chill filtration. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds.

The spirit was taken gently through wash and spirit stills, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. Through the evaporative decades the esters fold into raisin, fig, beeswax and a bittersweet chocolate. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch.

At 46.2%, undiluted, it is dark and full. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The mouthfeel is full and coating, the fruit dark and sweet. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.