Glenfarclas The Family Casks 38 Years Old 1980 Cask #1413

A 38 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1980, cask 1413, at 47.8%, 281 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, one of the last great family owned distilleries in Scotch. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. Its spirit is matured almost wholly in sherry butts brought up from Jerez. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s.

Distilled in copper pot stills, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. 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. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

Bottled at a cask strength 47.8%, it is deep and concentrated. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, lifted by a sweet oak. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.