Glenfarclas The Family Casks 15 Years Old 2003

A 15 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 2003, cask 1963, at 58.3%, 612 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt from Ballindalloch, in the heart of Speyside. 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.

Distilled to a rich, generous cut, the direct fired stills lending a nutty depth. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the fruit. At oxidative maturity aldehydes lend a nutty edge while ellagitannins draw a drying, structured grip across the fruit. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt.

At 58.3%, undiluted, it is dark and full. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, lifted by a sweet oak. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.