Glenfarclas The Family Casks 48 Years Old 1962

A 48 year old Glenfarclas, a distillery bottling, from 1962, cask 2649, at 55.7%, 95 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a deep, dark Speyside malt of dried fruit, nut and spice. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still, for the rich, sherried make Glenfarclas is known for. Maturation came in an Oloroso sherry cask, layered over the full Glenfarclas make. In its ethereal years the malt turns waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a whisper of sotolon over dark fruit. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At its natural 55.7% it is rich and chewy. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is full and fruity, the spirit carrying the cask. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.