Glenfarclas The Family Casks 58 Years Old 1953

Glenfarclas from the distillery, a 58 year old, from 1953, cask 1675, at 49.6%, 408 bottles in all. Glenfarclas is a Speyside single malt matured almost wholly in sherry casks from Jerez. Its six stills are the largest in Speyside and among the very few still fired directly, now by gas. It was licensed in 1836 under Robert Hay and bought in 1865 by John Grant for 511 pounds. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s.

It was taken gently through wash and spirit stills, giving a deep, full bodied Speyside spirit. Maturation came in an Oloroso sherry cask, layered over the full Glenfarclas make. At a great, fragile age oxidation rules, sotolon lending maple and dried fig as beeswax and old leather linger. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register.

At a hearty 49.6% it carries real weight. 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. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a richly sherried Speyside single malt.