Glenfarclas The Family Casks 18 Years Old 1999

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, an 18 year old, from 1999, cask 7458, at 54.5%, 565 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a richly sherried Speyside single malt, run by the Grant family since 1865. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year. It holds some sixty eight thousand casks on site in dunnage warehouses, with stock from every year since 1953.

It was drawn from a thick, heavy wash, for a weighty, nutty spirit the sherry then deepens. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the American oak lending vanilla and a light honey. Into oxidative maturity, slow air builds ripe esters and a darker chocolate, fig and date depth. 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 its natural 54.5% it is rich and chewy. A deep, dark sweetness, lifted by a sweet oak. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.