Glenfarclas The Family Malt Collection 9 Years Old 2009

A distillery release of Glenfarclas, a 9 year old, from 2009, at 43%. Glenfarclas, the glen of green grass, is a richly sherried Speyside single malt. It draws on that deep inventory for the Family Casks, single vintages reaching back to the 1950s. Direct firing chars the wash a little, lending the rich, nutty depth Glenfarclas is known for. It launched the 105 in 1968, one of the first cask strength single malts sold to the public.

The spirit was distilled in copper pot stills, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. Maturation came in an Oloroso sherry cask, layered over the full Glenfarclas make. In these extractive early years the oak gives vanillin as vanilla and lactones as coconut over orchard fruit and a dark sugar. The cool, slow dunnage ageing loses little to evaporation, the spirit holding its depth. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body.

Bottled at 43%, it is rounded and full. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The body is full and rich, the fruit deep and dark. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is a dark, fruity Speyside single malt.