Glenfarclas The Family Casks 31 Years Old 1986

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 31 year old, from 1986, cask 3447, at 52.8%, 546 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt drawn from the largest, direct fired stills in Speyside. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s.

The spirit was taken gently through wash and spirit stills, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. In its ethereal years the malt turns waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a whisper of sotolon over dark fruit. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

Bottled at a cask strength 52.8%, it is deep and concentrated. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.