Glenfarclas The Family Casks 51 Years Old 1955

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 51 year old, from 1955, cask 2211, at 46.1%, 545 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a deep, dark Speyside malt of dried fruit, nut and spice. Its six stills are the largest in Speyside and among the very few still fired directly, now by gas. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. Its whiskies are bottled at their natural colour, without chill filtration.

Run slowly off the spirit still, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. An Oloroso sherry cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At a hearty 46.1% it carries real weight. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.