Whisky: Glenfarclas 15 Year (2003) Cask 1963 "The Family Casks"

Country/Region: Scotland/Speyside

ABV: 58.3%

Cask: Fourth Fill Sherry Butt

Age: 15 Years (Distilled 2003, Bottled 6 Dec. 2019)

Nose: White chocolate and dried fruits; hints of thick, creamy yogurt, orange, and coffee; woodsy baking spices, white chocolate-covered berries; subtle herbal tea and vanilla.

Palate: Thick and creamy, buttery and hefty with more herbal tea upfront and fruits developing on the back; white chocolate, oranges, tangerines, vanilla and cinnamon scones, honey and apricot preserves; spirited and peppery toward the end.

Finish: Very long and slightly drying with floral orange, vanilla, and herbs.

Score: 7+ (85)

Mental Image: Dessert Yogurt

Narrative & Notes: A touch hot and prickly on the palate, the youthful, spirited vigor of this Glenfarclas seemed to wash out some of the other notes.  After wrapping my initial thoughts, I added some water and found that a few drops elevated more of the latent floral qualities on the nose while cooling off the palate nicely so that additional chocolate, berries, and musk appeared.  Water further balanced the mouthfeel and tamed any spirited heat so that each sip developed more of a creamy smoothness.

I enjoyed the aroma more than the palate, as the different notes came out more clearly and with a more defined structure. It may be fair to say that the aroma is propping up this score a decent bit from how I would have otherwise scored it— though it did have a remarkable thickness that carried through on the finish.

Overall, enjoyable. It is not often one gets the chance to try Glenfarclas in a relatively neutral and less active cask— though even as a fourth fill, the sherry butt had plenty to offer, accentuating the fruitier side of the spirit.

Image Credit: Whiskybase

About Glenfarclas

Always quaffable and nearly always a bargain compared to other brands, especially for its higher age statements. The malt shines at cask strength, though those releases are less common.

Renowned for their attention to detail and dedication to tradition, the Grant family has one foot in scotch history and another in its future. Much like Springbank in Campbeltown, Glenfarclas has a reputation for sticking with what works, yet their emphasis on brand identity (and legal enforcement of their trademarks) has made them a trendsetter and pioneer of the single malt market we enjoy today, even opening a visitor center way back in 1973.

Established in 1836, Glenfarclas has been in the hands of the Grant family since 1865. During the booming 1960s and 70s, the distillery underwent a massive expansion and transformation. Glenfarclas maintains a diverse portfolio of products that shift and change slightly occasionally (even if the labeling has remained relatively constant). The whisky produced there is rich and heavy as a slightly larger cut of the tails taken during distillation provides extra body to hold up against the sherry maturation for which the distillery is famous.

Style: Rich and malty, dried fruits and baking spice, typically sherried.