Glenfarclas The Family Casks 32 Years Old 1986 Cask #4775

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 32 year old, from 1986, cask 4775, at 47.7%, 551 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a deep, dark Speyside malt of dried fruit, nut and spice. It has been run by six generations of the Grant family, one of Scotch whisky's last truly independent houses.

Drawn from a thick, heavy wash, for the rich, sherried make Glenfarclas is known for. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin and a soft coconut under the malt. At a great, fragile age oxidation rules, sotolon lending maple and dried fig as beeswax and old leather linger. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At a natural 47.7% it is full and rich. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, lifted by a sweet oak. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. The close is rich and dark, fruit over a warm spice. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.