Glenfarclas The Family Casks 24 Years Old 1996

This official Glenfarclas, a 24 year old, from 1996, cask 1073, at 51.8%, 535 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, one of the last great family owned distilleries in Scotch. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. It holds some sixty eight thousand casks on site in dunnage warehouses, with stock from every year since 1953.

It was distilled in copper pot stills, the direct fired stills lending a nutty depth. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. Through the evaporative decades the esters fold into raisin, fig, beeswax and a bittersweet chocolate. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years.

At a hearty 51.8% it carries real weight. 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. A long finish carries raisin, chocolate and a treacle. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.