Glenfarclas The Family Casks 17 Years Old 2007

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 17 year old, from 2007, cask 2670, at 59.9%. Glenfarclas is a deep, dark Speyside malt of dried fruit, nut and spice. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch.

The spirit was distilled in copper pot stills, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. It was matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood working deep into the malt. At oxidative maturity aldehydes lend a nutty edge while ellagitannins draw a drying, structured grip across the fruit. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body.

Bottled at a cask strength 59.9%, it is deep and concentrated. Baked apple, honey and a dark chocolate, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The body is full and rich, the fruit deep and dark. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a richly sherried Speyside single malt.