Glenfarclas The Family Casks 16 Years Old 1998

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 16 year old, from 1998, cask 7636, at 59.2%, 630 bottles in all. Glenfarclas, the glen of green grass, is a richly sherried Speyside single malt. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year. Its six stills are the largest in Speyside and among the very few still fired directly, now by gas. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public.

It was distilled to a rich, generous cut, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. An Oloroso sherry cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. Through oxidative maturity the esters concentrate, the orchard notes turning to raisin, fig and a dark chocolate. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit.

Bottled at a cask strength 59.2%, it is deep and concentrated. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. The finish is long, rich and spiced. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.