Glenfarclas The Family Casks 28 Years Old 1993

A 28 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1993, cask 4669, at 57.6%, 550 bottles in all. 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 six stills are the largest in Speyside and among the very few still fired directly, now by gas.

It was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. A bourbon barrel held it, the wood adding a soft honey over the fruit. In the oxidative, evaporative years the spirit concentrates to dried fruit, dark chocolate and a waxy, resinous depth. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At a hearty 57.6% it carries real weight. A deep, dark sweetness, lifted by a sweet oak. Beneath it run dried fruit, dark sugar and a warm spice. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.