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Glenfarclas Distillery
Ballindalloch,
Banffshire
AB37 9BD
+44 1807 500 257

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Owner: J&G Grant

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Creation date 1836

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Photos

	Glenfarclas
			Sample
O.B.	105	17
	12 years	17 1/3
	15 years	17 1/2
	21 years	18 1/2
	1968		18
Adelphi	Adelphi Breath of Speyside, 15 years	18
Bresser&Timmer / The Nectar	Daily Dram: Feral Clangs	19
	Daily Dram: Lancer's flag	19
Dewar Rattray	Cask Collection, 1966		19
Douglas Laing	Old Malt Cask, Ballindalloch 40 years	18
Scott's Selection	Scott's selection 1965	19
Taste Still	Old Speyside 1966

 

 

Glenfarclas 12 years
Age	12 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Cask	Sherry
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

 

Despite its "screwed" top typical for cheaper spirits, this whisky is an absolute must among the Speyside whiskies. Some discrete hints of peat in a well balanced whisky, matured in sherry casks. The very interesting ration price-quality makes it a essential whisky in any good collection.

The nose is fresh, slightly peated with some pleasant sherry hints on the background. The palate is rather dry, and could be some "deeper", but has some interesting sherry notes, with a hint of peat on the background. A nice finish, too short, but pleasant.

A nose clearly marked by sherry, very expressive with nice citrus notes. Nutty fragrances give the whole a well marked character.
In the palate, a very pleasant and round presence where sherry and hazelnuts cohabit in a very smooth environment.
The finish prolongs perfectly the mouth. Sherry and smoothness.

 

 

 

Glenfarclas 105
Age	10 years
Alcohol percentage	60%
Particularity	Cask Strength
Cask	Sherry
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

 

 This Glenfarclas version was one of the first cask strengths to be marketed. The whisky is good, but the very high alcohol percentage, with a rough feeling impeached me to quote it higher than 16. Lots of other cask strength whiskies do not have this slightly aggressive character. It stays a very good whisky, and I really recommend it, but please be careful...
The advantage of cask strength is that you can decide for yourself how much water you want to add..

A pleasant powerful nose on a sherry background, without too much nuances characterized the second tasting. The sherry remains present in the palate. The strength of the alcohol makes it rather difficult to detect the different hints of this robust drink. A rather pleasant finish crowns the whole.

A well marked and pungent nose, with sherry and dry apricot hints. In the palate, the high percentage of alcohol makes this whisky first rather aggressive before developing on nice woody and slighty bitter notes, and a kind of smoothness, between honey and malt, through clear acid touches. A lingering and warm finish.

Sherry clearly dominates the nose, and the alcohol percentages gives it a kind of pungent character. Nice fruity and fresh notes follow after a while. In the mouth, toffee mixes nicely with fruit, and some slightly bitter hints appear on the background. The finish is quite interesting, and the fuity character of this whisky is clearly present. Further is the finish rather long and pleasant.

Comments by Johannes Sauer

Colour:Deep brown, sherry, oily
Nose:At first a really sharp whiff of alcohol together with rubber tires. Later the rubber gives way to more buttery and sugary aromes (cane sugar) but we're never left without that unpleasant stingy spirity nose.
Palate.: Exactly like the nose. The rubbery taste always stays in the back, but especially with lots of water there is also a pleasant note of sweet fruits, dates and figs.
Finish: Astonishingly mild and short.
Conc.: A whisky for special occasions: I never had a single malt mixing that well with coke, lime and ice! It mixes better than most bourbons i tried. Glenfarclas rocks!

 

 

Glenfarclas 21 years
Age	21 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Cask	Sherry
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

 

 The nose detects the sherry immediately. A very pleasant smell . The taste is very nice as well, and reveals hints of chocolate, wood of tobacco. A wonderful finish prolongs the pleasure for many minutes.
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The second tasting rediscovered a wonderful whisky, slightly dominated by sherry, but revealing an unusual complexity of smells and tastes. A real pleasure. The finish is long and develops on sherry notes.

A rather sweet nose (sweet in the sense of not aggressive, not in the sense of sugared) with a presence of sherry on a discrete smoky background. The same sweetness in the palate where the very complex taste develops form sherry to chocolate through a slight woody taste. The finish is long, an and a slight woody aftertaste mixed with sherry hints crowns the whole. A very nice bottle.

The nose is marked by a discrete wood bitterness, with some smoke on the background. Dry fruits and some malt together with some tinglings. The palatte is pleasantly bitter, with nice slightly acid hints and a nice complexity, going from smoke to exotic fruits through nutty touches. A very nice finish too, marked by both chocolate and slightly acid notes and a kind of acidity.

 Comments by Henrik Johansson

Date of tasting: 26/07 2008
Apperance: Burnished, deep copper
Nose: Warm sherried nose with some prickle. Some wood associated aromas along with cocoa and a feint spiciness, milk chocolate and some almonds. Yet there's a fresh, solvent element behind all that and strokes of ethyl alcohol which I did not expect in a whisky this old. With water the sherry gives more room to some pine nut hints, nutmeg and red berries.
Body: Medium
Palate: The overall impact feels drier than I expected. It starts soft with a spicy tingle, the sherry comes rolling in towards the middle. The finish is very long and quite mouth drying with some smoky hints rolling in just towards the end, might have been more sulphury than smoky, but the dram left a very light impression of ! tobacco ash.
86/100

Glenfarclas 15 years
Age	15 years
Alcohol percentage	46%
Cask	Sherry
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

Very nice nose marked by spices. Strong sherry hints. Some smoke behind clear cereal smells. Light violet fragrances, the whole giving a nice balanced impression.
The mouth is first rather bitter, however very pleasant. This bitterness paradoxically gives a nice fresh impression, the spices give it its complex character which enhances the pleasure this bottle gives.
The finish is long and warm, and some bitter impression is rather present at the beginning, developing on notes closer to cereal.

A nice spicy nose with an obvious presence of sherry, even if the malty smoothness seems to dominate. Nice smoky notes appear after a while.
In the palate a mix of spicy bitterness and malty sweetness with a kind of acidity.
The finish is quid acid even if it remains warm and still keeps this bitter notes which make this whisky special.

Ballindalloch Old Malt Cask Distilled 1965 Aged 40 years
Age	40 years
Alcohol percentage	50%
Cask	Sherry
Bottler	Douglas Laing
Price/litre

The colour of this whisky is amazingly dark and the nose is really fantastic, both smooth and complex, with clear sherry hints, very nice vanilla and toffee notes, the whole being very coherent in a remarkable sweetness.
The mouth is less interesting as it is first very bitter, the taste being too much marked by the wood. Sherry with a hint of acidity behind. All the smoothness of the nose seems to have disappeared. Nice complexity however and some warm alcohol hints.
The finish is exceptionally long and marked by sherry and the woody touches of the mouth. This whisky deserves certainly a new tasting after a few days of aeration, as my notes seem to differ quite a lot with the enthusiastic reactions to other drinkers.

Breath of Speyside cask 5642
Age	15 years
Alcohol percentage	60.2%
Cask	Sherry
Bottler	Adelphi
Price/litre

Sherry is obviously the most important marker for this far to be discrete nose which reveals also some fruity notes, some woody touches and some hints recalling orange peel. A greater complexity seems to appear a few minutes after having opened the bottle. Ripe fruits, plum developing slowly to more chocolate-like hints.
In the palate, thins whisky is first rather dry, but remains pleasant, nicely complex, with lots of character and the high percentage of alcohol does not hinder the tasting at all, even if the alcohol presence is obvious. Woody notes share the attention with others, clearly smoother.
The finish leaves some bitterness in the palate. It is particularly long. Even if this whisky is really excellent, I must confess I was expecting some more pleasure, after having read many enthusiast comments about this bottle.

Glenfarclas 1965-2005 Natural Cask Strength
Age	40 years
Alcohol percentage	48.5%
Bottler	Scott's collection
Price/litre

The first nose is quite strange. A mix of wood and wax. Relatively discrete but really promising. Discrete hints of wood. The palate is much more expressive with still this impression of a very fine wood and a great complexity where hints of liquorice, floral notes and hints of sherry are mixed together with nice spiced notes. The finish is magnificent, long and nicely woody with discrete hints of sherry. It is warm and very smooth.

Glenfarclas Lancer's flag
Age	41 years
Alcohol percentage	46.1%
Bottler	Daily Dram
Price/litre

A very pleasant nose exceptionally fresh (specially for a whisky of that age), made from discrete sherry hints nicely mixed with fine but clear woody notes. Some eucalyptus hints. The nose is oddly complex behind first quite linear impressions. In the palate the same complex mix of wood and sherry. The mouth is bewitching and prolongs nicely the nose impressions. The finish is pleasantly warm and lingering, still with this amazing association of fine wood and sherry.

A superb clear floral nose with nice smells of spicy mint an heather and some notes of liquorice.
The mouth is first rather acid with unripe fruit notes and acid drop hints, but however it is nicely "couloured" even if the nose was much more attractive. All the nose nuances have unfortunately disappeared from the palate.
The finish prolongs perfectly the mouth , with this acid freshness which prolongs for many minutes.
The high score of this bottle is due to the exceptional nose, and the relative deception of both mouth and finish did not make me change the finale note of 19/20.

Glenfarclas Feral Clangs
Age	41 years
Alcohol percentage	45.7%
Bottler	Daily Dram
Price/litre

Hints of vanilla mixed to some nutty smells and discrete notes of ripe fruit, with quite interesting floral notes.
The mouth is very pleasant, with this strange combination of refined wood, honey and discrete hints of citrus fruit, the whole being perfectly balanced.
The finish is rather complex, moving from honey notes to cashew nut or wood ones, and back again.

Glenfarclas 1968
Age	no age statement
Alcohol percentage	43%
Cask	Sherry
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

A very pleasant nose, with sherry hints and woody touches, with loads of discrete aromas, form coffee (with milk) to chocolate through spiced touches. In the mouth, a subtle mix of sherry and oak, the whole in a relative smoothness. Not really spectacular. The finish is relatively short, with again nice woody memories of sherry.

Glenfarclas Old Speyside 1966-2006
Age	no age statement
Alcohol percentage	45.6%
Cask	Sherry
Bottler	Taste Still

Glenfarclas 1966-2007 Cask Collection
Age	41 years
Alcohol percentage	46.1%
Bottler	Dewar Rattray
Price/litre

Despite the very pale colour of this whisky, the nose seems to reveal clear sherry hints. And it is a bourbon cask... which explains the colour, but not the smell.The nose is simply fantastic. Mix of sherry and nice fresh floral notes. A real bunch of flowers beside a sherry bottle. Exotic fruit, pineapple, honey and some cut grass. A very rich nose anyway and changing all the time.
In the mouth, the first impression is some woody hints followed by a deep malty smoothness and very nice peppery and spicy notes. After a while (fortunately rather long), all tastes seem to dim suddenly before leaving quite a neutral palate.
But the finish is very long and extremely pleasant with ist sherry notes closely mixed together.

Glenfarclas 8 Years old
Age	8 years
Alcohol percentage	40%
Bottler	Official

Comment by Thomas Widter

This is the first Glenfarclas I have had a chance to get to know, so I can only guess that it must hold up with its older brothers quite nicely. Of course, the whisky is not quite as smooth as an older one would be – still, that specific sherryish character has to be what is the Glenfarclas trademark. It is a very full, round, sunny tone with not little caramel to it; the “sunny” side to it is almost too much for some afternoons. If it had to illustrated with sound (the writer of this note is also an sound engineer) the higher frequencies would be just slightly dominant, but never to let one forget about the overall wholesome character. The nuttiness a Macallen would have is not where this whisky shines, nor does it have the at first hidden intensity of a 12 year Glendronach. But oh is it still a tremendous example of what Speyside’s finest distilleries are capable of achieving.
(taking into consideration the pretty good price-ratio)

Glenfarclas 25 Years old
Age	25 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Bottler	Official

Comment by Henrik Johansson

Date of tasting: 29/5 2009 (SWS tasting)
Apperance: Old gold (lighter than the 21yo I've sampled)
Nose: Lots of sulphur initially, like used fireworks. Pretty spirity, green apples, sewer smells. Complex, but not all that pleasant. Gets slightly better- bakery.
Body: Medium to light
Palate: Starts light. Prickly swallow. The finish is round and has lots of wood. Remarkably light overall and does not feel like 25 years old. Still tasty though.
82/100

Glenfarclas Vintage 1989, for the Swedish Malt Whisky Society (SWS) 1989-2008
Age	19 years
Alcohol percentage	53,9%
Bottler	Swedish Malt Whisky Society (SWS)

Comment by Henrik Johansson

Date of tasting: 27/3 2009 (SWS tasting)
Apperance: Very dark red amber
Nose: Butter scotch, vanilla fudge, toffee and some saw dust. A little raisins later. Develops more dried fruits and rubber.
Body: Big and thick
Palate: Very sherried with dried fruits. Very long, sherry-dry finish. Very smooth and complex with water added. A little over enthusiastic sherry in the finish marks the whole impression down slightly, but a great bottling and a true sherry bomb.
92/100