Glenfarclas The Family Casks 33 Years Old 1981

A 33 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1981, cask 1603, at 52.9%, 529 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, the house behind the pioneering 105 cask strength. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds.

It was run slowly off the spirit still, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the American oak lending vanilla and a light honey. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch.

At its natural 52.9% it is rich and chewy. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, lifted by a sweet oak. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is Glenfarclas's deep, fruity Speyside style.