Glenfarclas The Family Casks 39 Years Old 1967

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 39 year old, from 1967, cask 5118, at 58.5%, 181 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds. Its whiskies are bottled at their natural colour, without chill filtration.

The spirit was distilled to a rich, generous cut, the direct fired stills lending a nutty depth. An Oloroso sherry cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. 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. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt.

At its natural 58.5% it is rich and chewy. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. A long finish carries raisin, chocolate and a treacle. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.