Glenfarclas NAS 1990 43% OB The Family Malt Collection
Not to be confused with the Family Cask. I believe this is 17 years old but I'm not sure so I'll go with a NAS what age is concerned. Very dark, probably sherried as most vintage Glenfarclas is. Smells phenolic, burnt, and a bit peaty, not unlike the Fettercairn Fior. The taste is sweet, burnt, round, prunes, leather, honey, iced-tea, peach, a very good malt. The finish shows even more peat, a really interesting version of Glenfarclas this one.
smooth, peaty and sherried: 7
Glenfarclas 6yo 40% OB The John Grant
A bottling from the 80's if I'm not mistaken, could be from even earlier days. Interesting anyway, the cap crumbled to pieces, cheap production? Smells slight, caramel, milky way, butter, herbs, whiskies under 10yo aren't as smooth nowadays. The taste is fruity, red apples, watermelon, grapefruit, peppery, has something quite similar to the old 12yo Highland Park, before they reduced the sherry share.
I think this one has kept developing in the bottle: 6
Glenfarclas 12yo 43% OB 750 Jahre Berlin
One done for Macware Ltd. in Berlin. Probabaly bottled to celebrate the town being 750 years old although I can't find any information stating a certain year of founding of the city. Probably a bottling from the 80's or 70's. Smells sweet cinnamon, coriander, tea, coffee beans, licorice, maltiness. The taste is sweet and burns a bit, sour leaves and onion, really sweet and calm at first with small hints of dark syrup and cinnamon. The finish shows to be spirity and more than anything else ruining what could've been a very good whisky.
A bitter disappointing finish: 4
Blairfindy/Glenfarclas 24yo 1980-2004 55.8% Blackadder Raw Cask cask#5984
A dark sherry matured Glenfarclas without the cask sediments usually found in bottles from this series. Smells sherried, dry sherry, phenolic, but that doesn't mind me at all. The taste is perfectly peppery, dry and phenolic with some sweet lemon aftertaste, bitter grapes, red wine, hints of olive oil and burnt meat. I've always had a special love for these Raw Cask bottlings although some spectators complains about the wood pieces sometimes found in bottom of the bottle. I say, along with a good cigar, grind the wood pieces between you teeth and just enjoy some good whisky-infused wood.
Sweet Oloroso with so much more: 9.5
Glenfarclas NAS 60% OB Heritage
Will this be like the NAS 105, I hope so because that is a fantastic whisky in my opinion. This has a really malty, full, sweet, toasted smell. The taste is burnt, like burnt toffee, burnt butter, burnt dark chocolate tart, not that that's a bad thing but here it just gets a bit over the top, so I'll add some water. Now things are happening, lots of layers of brick wall, autumn leaves, brown sugar and salty liquorice on the palate. The aftertaste on the other hand is just plain and simple, nothing going on unfortunately.
Lacks a finish, other than that splendid: 7
Glenfarclas 40yo 46% OB
Hmm.. Now time to try this baby, much darker than the 30yo, and 46%abv. This could be the one that I've been waiting for. A heavy bronze color, smells very phenolic, dried grass, heavy sherry notes, somewhere between dry fino and red moscatel. The smell develops just dryer and dryer with time. The taste is extremely bitter and dry, espresso coffee, lemon seeds, mustard, and just too dry to let any of the finish flavours come through, it needs water. The taste now becomes sweeter, plums, blueberry jam, malt syrup and dirt.
A weird Glenfarclas, gets better with water: 6
Glenfarclas 30yo 43% OB
My birthday was yesterday, so to celebrate my long lasting existence and endurance on this earth, I'll now enjoy two older Glenfarclas'. This one smells huge, lots of sherry-notes, syrup, honey, almost a bit too sweet for me(I never thought I'd say that about a scotch). The taste is creamy, leather, citrus, bitter, not nearly as sweet as the odors. Maybe it needs some time, and water? Once again, hmm.. definately needs water. Now it's more pepery, cardboardy, quite boring actually. This was a disappointment...
Old and tired Glenfarclas: 3.5
Glenfarclas 8yo 57% OB 80's
Another one of those 80's bottlings at 100 proof, I really never understood the idea why they didn't just do a regular cask strength, but I guess "100 proof" sounds pretty cool, or 105 proof as the contemporary NAS Glenfarclas. This smells rather soft when compared to the HP, some citrus notes, oranges and cream. The taste on the other hand is pretty much the same, only with a huge load of pepper, very strong flavours. I'll add water. This is actually very strong, more phenolic than any of the Glenfarclas OB's of today. I know there are some ppm of peat in Glenfarclas but this one could be mistaken for an Islay malt. But it's not a bad thing as it's pretty peppery too, and a sweet lingering vanilla aftertaste reminds me that we're still in speyside.
A truly wonderful and complex speyside malt: 8.5
Ballindalloch/Glenfarclas? 40yo 1965-2005 50% Old Malt Cask Douglas Laing
A fourty year old sherried Glenfarclas, must be a treat? Especialy since it's from the days back when Douglas Laing's Old Malt Cask range were all matured put in fantastic fresh sherry casks. It smells of oloroso, dark, raisins, honey, butter, cocoa and cinnamon. Also, it's the darkest malt I've ever seen, except from the tragic loch dhu of course. The taste is not as sweet as you'd expect, it's good, but the palate and nose doesn't play together at all. It's tea, oat meal, lemon, acidic notes.
A bittersweet sherried malt: 5
Glenfarclas 12yo 59% James Macarthur's
Young Glenfarclas'es at high strength can always be a treasure, Glenfarclas is maybe one of the few distilleries that I really do prefer at a younger age, when bottled at cask strength, except the 30+ something sherried ones, but they are far between. This one smells sharp, flinty, salty, oysters, almost like an unpeated Islay, say the Caol Ila version or Bunnahabhain 12. The taste is so drying It kind of puts me of, and there's also some flintiness and rustic flavours. Anyway, it needs water. This is really a thunderbolt, even when diluted it's flinty, ammonia, bitterness and roquefort bacterials.
One for the machosists, I enjoy it, 'till a certain point: 6.5
Glenfarclas/Ballindaloch 10yo 2000-2010 59.2% Malts of Scotland cask#5408 btl.x/622
A nice red sherry malt from Glenfarclas. I do tend to like some of the young high strength Glenfarclas'es, especially the 105 was a very nice surprise. Let's see if this one can compare. The smell is very floral, and stings a bit, a very phenolic malt? The taste is at first kind of sweet and tender, milk and honey, then turns extremely drying. Needs a bit of water even if it does show some grace. With water. Now the nose gets more sherried and much sweeter, quite good. The aftertaste is peppery and drying, extremely drying even when watered down.
A dry sherried malt, a bit too dry if that's possible: 6
Glenfarclas 15yo 46% OB
The 15yo Glenfarclas is back after Glenfarclas stopped bottling at this age for a while, at least that's what I've been told. This Ex-Oloroso smells very sweet, I'm getting cinnamon and ginger schnaps. It's sweet, peppery, strong taste of red onions choriander. The aftertaste is minty and fresh and sticks around for quite some time. It's just a bit too clean for me, I'd like this to have some more edge, like the 105 or maybe the twentyone year old. I think it falls a bit between two chairs.
A standard Glenfarclas, nothing more, nothing less: 6
Glenfarclas 42yo 1967-2009 49.8% Scotch Single Malt Circle
To celebrate myself turning 300 whisky notes as of published yesterday, I'll have this oldie Glenfarclas. I will also try to take a small break from the noting industry for approximately 2 months, but I guess we'll see about that. This one is matured in an ex-bourbon cask. With a pale colour and very anonymous odors, maybe some honey, it's obviously off to a slow start. It's very sweet on the palate, honey, vanilla and black pepper. It has a nice tangy and fresh aftertaste, coastal sea air? I recommend a small amount of water as it gets a bit more laidback, and some of the intense sweetness turns into a slightly sour white wine-ish expression.
Not as good as some of the old sherry-expressions, but fun to try: 6
Glenfarclas 39yo 1970-2009 54.4% The Perfect Dram
A very dark oloroso sherry matured Glenfarclas at a nice age. In fear of this being an ultra-dry sherry concentrated malt I'll give it a good 15 minutes to let in some air. This is extremely dark, like coca-cola. The nose is very phenolic, dry, reminds me of smoked salmon and sweet chili sauce. The taste is magnificent, brown sugar, sherry, a bit dry, red unripe grapes, sour apples and a nice aftertaste of rosé pepper and pepperoni. I will not add water to this, it's just too good without.
Best sherried Glenfarclas I've tried so far: 9
Glenfarclas 12yo 1995-2007 51% SLC "Beinn A Cheo" btl.287
A young sherry matured Glenfarclas, at a good strength, could this be a bit like the very good 105? A sweet sherry nose, and some good malty notes as well. It shows off at first with some heavy sherry flavours, but there's hardly any distillery character to be found. Burnt cake and dark toffee is dominating the flavours. With water it gets sort of weak, and a bit more sweet.
A pretty forgettable experience: 4
Glenfarclas 40yo 1965-2005 48.5% Scott's Selection CS
I've always liked the name of these IB's. Scott has a nice ring to it as it's also present in Scotland. Perhaps it's a half-lame gimmick? Anyway, with bottles this age and origin you gotta take em seriously, eh? The nose is very perfumy, waxy and lemony. the taste is very dry and peppery, probably bourbon-matured, needs some water. With water there's some sweet liquorice, anis balsamico, oak and salt. The aftertaste is very bitter.
It's just too dry and salty, makes me very thirsty, for water: 4.5
Glenfarclas-Glenlivet 13yo 1980-1993 59.1% Cadenhead's Authentic Collection
A young bourbonmatured cask strength Glenfarclas. Very strong nose, loads and loads of vanilla on the first taste. Much spiciness although very elegant, doesn't need to add water as the fierce flavours of chilli, vanilla, sour leaves, dark grapes and fried onions completely dominates the taste. The aftertaste is long and warming, a real winter's delight.
Nice and warm whisky: 6
Blairfindy 35yo 1969-2004 53.7% Blackadder
This is an IB of Glenfarclas'. It's sherry matured I would guess by the nosing. Phenolic, acidic, sweet, warm and syrupy. I've found many good older Glenfarclas'es, but I don't know if I'm always as pleased with the sherry matured ones. It's definately sherry matured, sulfur, extremely dry, chalkdust and fish sauce on the palate.
Not my favourite expression, by far: 3
Glenfarclas 12yo 43% OB
Flat bottle, one from the good old days for sure. The 60's maybe. Dark, smells strongly of alcohol, and sticks around for some time. It does taste very old-fashioned, malty, strong, a bit woody, some alcohol and a bit sulphur. From the times when special casks were affordable for standard OBs, sherry for sure. It has a warming finish with chilli and dried tomatoes.
Old school malt: 6
Glenfarclas 25yo 43% OB
Glenfarclas' 25 year old is one that I've obsessively been trying to get a taste of, since I liked the 21yo so much. It's very dark, spicy, sulphur, with an alluring scent, mouthwatering. The taste is very sweet compared to the 21yo, and a bit dry, definately influenced by sherry maturation. Some of the nice oaky and salty flavours are missing. In the end it comes of as a sherry bomb.
Sherry-lovers enjoy: 6.5
Glenfarclas 10yo 60% OB 105
A young glenfarclas somewhere around cask strength seems like an interesting concept. Dark colour, mild smell with hints of oak and cocoa, a flavoursome young whisky, no doubt. As it's second to none dilluted, a little water from myself might do the trick. And yes, a wonderful taste of honey and coriander derives. This is distillery art!
Not far from the best vintages: 7
Glenfarclas 8yo 40% OB
Two young Glenfarclases head-to-head today. This one seems milder, with a sweeter and more flowery scent. But when tasting, it's strong, alcohol and sugar combined. It does definately need some water. But it doesn't help much except making it a bit milder. It also creates a small hint of coughdrops, which does no good unfortunately, and in the overall performance it just can't be saved.
A huge disappointment: 1.5
Glenfarclas 10yo 40% OB
A young version from this distillery, it's hard to expect what's coming. Does smell pretty firm, strong with some succade and melon. Has a far too big influence of alcohol tastewise, doesn't hide it at all and lacks debth. But it does have some of the citrussy flavours found in older versions of this malt. Water brings out a tiny taste of salt and some turmeric.
An alright whisky, just a bit premature: 5
Glenfarclas 21yo 43% OB
Glenfarclas says to be one of just a few family owned distilleries left. But really doesn't need that on the bottle to blow me away. This is a good, quality malt whisky without too much pompous nonsense. A straightforward odor of honey and incense, flavours that's present also on the palate. In addition comes some citrus and apple vinegar along, just in perfect amounts.
Classic: 8
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