Glenfarclas The Family Casks 35 Years Old 1987

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 35 year old, from 1987, cask 1495, at 48%, 588 bottles in all. Glenfarclas, the glen of green grass, is a richly sherried Speyside single malt. Its whiskies are bottled at their natural colour, without chill filtration. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for.

Distilled to a rich, generous cut, for the rich, sherried make Glenfarclas is known for. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the fruit. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth.

At a natural 48% it is full and rich. Fig, walnut and a bittersweet chocolate, lifted by a sweet oak. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.