Glenfarclas Single Cask #6543 – 46 42 Years Old 1967 (Cognac)

A 42 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1967, cask 6543-46, at 40.7%, 732 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt from Ballindalloch, in the heart of Speyside. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public. Its six stills are the largest in Speyside and among the very few still fired directly, now by gas. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year.

The spirit was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. It was matured in a Cognac cask, the wood working deep into the malt. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At a hearty 40.7% it carries real weight. A rich, sherried sweetness, with a grapey, raisined warmth from the cask. The mouthfeel is full and coating, the fruit dark and sweet. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.