Very generous in its sherry-like notes, which the distillery masters. You get an intense and rich welcome of dark chocolate, raisins and cigar box when you inhale the wonderful aroma. Add to this old oak furniture and a bit of leather – maybe even a bit of cognac after a few minutes. When you dare to taste, hints of English Christmas cake, some tobacco, orange and chocolate brownies beckon, while coffee beans and dried fruit contribute and increase complexity. Sit back and enjoy the tranquility – and hints of cinnamon and black pepper add a slight warming touch. The whole thing is nicely rounded off with rich notes of sherry, caramel, orange marmalade and, at the very end, a bit of ginger.
Glenfarclas masters the noble art of barrel aging like very few others. This beautiful 40-year bottling shows why and has also been favored with great prices and reviews.
Aged for 40 years in Oloroso sherry casks.
GOLD
International Drammies Awards
Best Single Malt 2016
GOLD
Malt Maniacs Awards
Malt Maniacs Awards 2010
97 POINTS
China Whiskey Awards
China Whiskey Awards 2013
94 POINTS
Jim Murray’s Whiskey Bible
Jim Murray’s Whiskey Bible 2016
About J & G Grant, Glenfarclas Distillery
Glenfarclas means “Valley of the Green Grass” in Gaelic, and the skilled Scots get the water used in the distillation from a small spring that springs from the beautiful and dramatic Ben Rinnes. The distillery is located at the foot of the heather-covered mountain, where the water springs up from the underlying granite when the winter snow melts. The combination of the very clean, soft water and the completely unique shape of the potstills used by Glenfarclas contributes to the distillery’s unique Highland Single Malts.
Glenfarclas Distillery has been family-owned since 1865, and it is the Grant family who have established the Scotch whiskey distillery as one of the best in the world. Glenfarclas is one of the few remaining Scottish distilleries still family owned. Since 1865, the distillery has been in the hands of the same family: The Grants. John Grant was actually a cattle breeder when he bought Recherlich Farm and Glenfarclas Distillery in 1865 for £511. It is six generations of whiskey connoisseurship that benefits us consumers today. This continuity has allowed Glenfarclas to still use older ways of making whisky. Not because of romance and a longing for history. Glenfarclas is a success, and rightly so.
As George Grant, sixth generation of the family puts it: “We’ve lived through 22 recessions. We make the whiskey we can afford to make and never borrow money to make it.” During the 1980s, when the whiskey industry itself was cutting back on production, Glenfarclas’ was on the rise. Glenfarclas has larger quantities in stock than most distilleries. An aversion to independent bottlers using the distillery’s name on their (rare) offerings has also helped maintain a strong identity for the Glenfarclas brand itself. At Glenfarclas, they also stick to maturing their whiskeys in former sherry casks. It contributes to the whiskey achieving greater fullness, complexity and sweetness. It is no small operation, and today they have 80,000 casks for storage. Since 1989, they have come from Spain, specifically Huelva near Jerez – and they do so almost every month.
Wild with fire – and dishes from Spain
Glenfarclas make use of direct fire on their stills. Not to please tourists or other whiskey nuts, but because of the quality of the finished whisky. Steam was tried in 1981, but the conclusion was that too much of the strength went out of the whiskey and they went back to direct fire. Fullness and strength are needed to cope with the tannin structure and full impression of fruit in the old sherry casks.
Today, all the wood comes from Jerez and cooper Miguel Martin. A mixture of butts and hogsheads are used, all of which are old oloroso casks and made from European oak. Glenfarclas’ core range is aged in a mix of first-fill and re-fill casks. In 2007 the Scots released ‘The Family Cask’ – vintage releases from every year between 1952 and 1998.
Glenfarclas also claims to have pioneered the bottling of Cask Strength Whiskey when it launched its 105Ëš in 1968. However, it was certainly one of the first distilleries to open its doors to visitors in 1973.
