Glenfarclas The Family Casks 30 Years Old 1992

A 30 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1992, cask 5988, at 52.6%, 496 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a richly sherried Speyside single malt, run by the Grant family since 1865. Its six stills are the largest in Speyside and among the very few still fired directly, now by gas. 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.

It was drawn from a thick, heavy wash, for the rich, sherried make Glenfarclas is known for. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, the oak gentle behind the spirit. At a great, fragile age oxidation rules, sotolon lending maple and dried fig as beeswax and old leather linger. 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 its natural 52.6% it is rich and chewy. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, lifted by a sweet oak. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.