Glenfarclas The Family Casks 16 Years Old 1990

A 16 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1990, cask 9246, at 58.9%, 617 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a richly sherried Speyside single malt, run by the Grant family since 1865. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. Its spirit is matured almost wholly in sherry butts brought up from Jerez.

It was distilled in copper pot stills, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. At oxidative maturity aldehydes lend a nutty edge while ellagitannins draw a drying, structured grip across the fruit. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt.

At a natural 58.9% it is full and rich. A deep, dark sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is full and fruity, the spirit carrying the cask. The finish is long, rich and spiced. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.