Glenfarclas Spring Edition 2021

A Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, at 55%, a festival cask. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, one of the last great family owned distilleries in Scotch. Its spirit is matured almost wholly in sherry butts brought up from Jerez. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still, the direct fired stills lending a nutty depth. An Oloroso sherry cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. Carrying no age, soft vanillin and dried fruit suggest a fair spell in active oak. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit.

At 55%, undiluted, it is dark and full. A deep, dark sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The body is full and rich, the fruit deep and dark. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is Glenfarclas's deep, fruity Speyside style.