Glenfarclas The Family Casks 31 Years Old 1990

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 31 year old, from 1990, cask 9256, at 51.9%, 615 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds.

The spirit was distilled in copper pot stills, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. 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. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth.

At 51.9%, undiluted, it is dark and full. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. The finish is long, rich and spiced. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.