Glenfarclas The Family Casks 50 Years Old 1962 Cask #3245

This official Glenfarclas, a 50 year old, from 1962, cask 3245, at 45.3%, 169 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a richly sherried Speyside single malt, run by the Grant family since 1865. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. Its water rises from the granite of Ben Rinnes, above the distillery at Ballindalloch. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public.

It was run slowly off the spirit still, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. Maturation came in an Oloroso sherry cask, layered over the full Glenfarclas make. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Maturation runs slow and even in the dunnage warehouses at Ballindalloch.

Bottled at 45.3%, it is rounded and full. Raisin, chocolate and a warm spice, 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 full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.