Glenfarclas The Family Casks 38 Years Old 1976

A 38 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1976, cask 3105, at 41.8%, 354 bottles in all. Glenfarclas, the glen of green grass, is a richly sherried Speyside single malt. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch.

It was distilled to a rich, generous cut, for the rich, sherried make Glenfarclas is known for. 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 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.

At a hearty 41.8% it carries real weight. Fig, walnut and a bittersweet chocolate, lifted by a sweet oak. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is a richly sherried Speyside single malt.