Glenfarclas The Family Casks 22 Years Old 1998

A 22 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1998, cask 7635, at 57.9%, 557 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still, for a weighty, nutty spirit the sherry then deepens. An Oloroso sherry cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. In the oxidative, evaporative years the spirit concentrates to dried fruit, dark chocolate and a waxy, resinous depth. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch.

Bottled at a cask strength 57.9%, it is deep and concentrated. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. The close is rich and dark, fruit over a warm spice. This is a rich Speyside malt of dried fruit and nut.