Glenfarclas The Family Casks 32 Years Old 1989

A 32 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1989, cask 13007, at 51.9%, 606 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a richly sherried Speyside single malt, run by the Grant family since 1865. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for.

It was drawn from a thick, heavy wash, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. An Oloroso sherry cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. In its ethereal years the malt turns waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a whisper of sotolon over dark fruit. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. 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. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch.

At a hearty 51.9% it carries real weight. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is full and fruity, the spirit carrying the cask. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.