Glenfarclas The Family Casks 34 Years Old 1972

This official Glenfarclas, a 34 year old, from 1972, cask 3546, at 51.1%, 645 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, one of the last great family owned distilleries in Scotch. It has been run by six generations of the Grant family, one of Scotch whisky's last truly independent houses.

It was drawn from a thick, heavy wash, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. It was matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood working deep into the malt. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit.

Bottled at a cask strength 51.1%, it is deep and concentrated. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The mouthfeel is full and coating, the fruit dark and sweet. A long finish carries raisin, chocolate and a treacle. This is Glenfarclas's deep, fruity Speyside style.