Glenfarclas The Family Casks 14 Years Old 2000 (Germany Exclusive)

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 14 year old, from 2000, cask 4075, at 58.5%, 650 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. Its whiskies are bottled at their natural colour, without chill filtration. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch. It has been run by six generations of the Grant family, one of Scotch whisky's last truly independent houses.

It was drawn from a thick, heavy wash, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. Maturation came in an Oloroso sherry cask, layered over the full Glenfarclas make. By the integrating teens the raw notes fade and esters build, the rich spirit growing rounder and darker. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At a natural 58.5% it is full and rich. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.