Glenfarclas The Family Casks 39 Years Old 1978

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 39 year old, from 1978, cask 751, at 41.1%, 111 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt drawn from the largest, direct fired stills in Speyside. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year.

It was drawn from a thick, heavy wash, 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. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At 41.1%, undiluted, it is dark and full. Date, fig and a warm cinnamon, lifted by a sweet oak. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.