Glenfarclas The Family Casks 16 Years Old 2002 Cask #3769

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 16 year old, from 2002, cask 3769, at 58%, 706 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, the house behind the pioneering 105 cask strength. Its six stills are the largest in Speyside and among the very few still fired directly, now by gas. 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, for a weighty, nutty spirit the sherry then deepens. 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 spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years.

At a hearty 58% it carries real weight. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is Glenfarclas's deep, fruity Speyside style.