Glenfarclas The Family Casks 20 Years Old 2001

A 20 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 2001, cask 3932, at 58.8%, 569 bottles in all. Glenfarclas, the glen of green grass, is a richly sherried Speyside single malt. Its whiskies are bottled at their natural colour, without chill filtration. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still, for the rich, sherried make Glenfarclas is known for. 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. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register.

At a hearty 58.8% it carries real weight. A deep, dark sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.