Glenfarclas The Family Casks 53 Years Old 1954

This official Glenfarclas, a 53 year old, from 1954, cask 444, at 52.6%, 406 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt drawn from the largest, direct fired stills in Speyside. Its slow, cool dunnage maturation loses very little to the angels each year. It has been run by six generations of the Grant family, one of Scotch whisky's last truly independent houses. Its whiskies are bottled at their natural colour, without chill filtration.

It was distilled in copper pot stills, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. 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. Active wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At its natural 52.6% it is rich and chewy. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a dark, fruity Speyside single malt.