Glenfarclas The Family Casks 48 Years Old 1966

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 48 year old, from 1966, cask 4198, at 50.6%, 487 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt drawn from the largest, direct fired stills in Speyside. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for.

It was taken gently through wash and spirit stills, for the rich, sherried make Glenfarclas is known for. 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. The full bodied spirit takes active sherry wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body.

At 50.6%, undiluted, it is dark and full. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is a richly sherried Speyside single malt.