Glenfarclas The Family Casks 46 Years Old 1968 Cask #230

A 46 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1968, cask 230, at 55.6%, 352 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt, the house behind the pioneering 105 cask strength. 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 has been run by six generations of the Grant family, one of Scotch whisky's last truly independent houses.

Distilled in copper pot stills, the direct fired stills lending a nutty depth. An Oloroso sherry cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. In its ethereal years the malt turns waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a whisper of sotolon over dark fruit. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

Bottled at a cask strength 55.6%, it is deep and concentrated. A deep, dark sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. The finish is long, rich and spiced. This is Glenfarclas's deep, fruity Speyside style.