Glenfarclas The Family Casks 48 Years Old 1958

This official Glenfarclas, a 48 year old, from 1958, cask 2245, at 51.6%, 455 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a deep, dark Speyside malt of dried fruit, nut and spice. Its spirit is matured almost wholly in sherry butts brought up from Jerez. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. It has been run by six generations of the Grant family, one of Scotch whisky's last truly independent houses.

It was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, for a weighty, nutty spirit the sherry then deepens. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth.

At 51.6%, undiluted, it is dark and full. A deep, dark sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Beneath it run dried fruit, dark sugar and a warm spice. A long finish carries raisin, chocolate and a treacle. This is the family sherry malt of Ballindalloch.