So, the last whisky in this small series which I called the "classic malts". Glenfarclas is known for their very good sherried whisky. 3m litres a year produced. All matured in sherry casks. Family owned Distillery. A lot of good to say about this distillery, but what about the whisky? Lets go!
Blairfindy 16yo 1977-1993 43% Master of Malt cask#7020
Glenfarclas does not allow IB's to use the distillery name on the bottlings, so "Blairfindy", "1836", "Ballindalloch" and a couple other synonyms are often being used instead. This one has a pale golden color. It smells licorice, barley wine, cigars, glue, spirity, acrylic. The taste is fresh and oaky, yeasty, pickles, sour cream, rubbery, not a typical Glenfarclas, but interesting in its own way. Maybe it comes across as a bit raw at first, but the finishing notes of cinnamon, camphor, leather and mint makes for a very pleasant treat.
High quality whisky, nowhere near a sherrybomb: 6.5
Glenfarclas-Glenlivet 21yo 46% Cadenhead's
I wouldn't be surprised if this was distilled in the 50's or even 40's. There is a 21yo OB on the market these days, maybe this one was an inspiration for that. The color is golden brown. It smells citrussy, lime peel, orange peel, clementines, glue again, a very fruity one with citrus fruits dominating the whole so far. The taste is creamy, sulphury, cinnamon, spicy, peppery, ginger, chili flakes, oaky, bitter, tannic, a sherry bomb!!! The finish is peppery and long, but not as complex, or diverse if you like, as the 16yo's.
The character of a CS near 60%abv, impressive: 6.5
1836 15yo 1995-2011 50.5% Malts of Scotland cask#37
1836 was the year Glenfarclas was established. This one comes from a sherry hogshead. Light orange hue. It smells citrus, lime peel, sulphur, smoke, oaky, bitter, root veggies, beetroot, radishes. This one needs a bit of water I think. With about a teaspoon of water added it turns sweeter, honey glaze, austere, tannic, bitter, drying. This is far from as good good as the MoM and Cadenhead's. I think that if one is only looking for complexity, or a dram that one can use hours upon hours to get to the core of, this is a good challenge in that aspect, but for enjoyment purposes only, it falls a bit short.
I'm surprised, I thought it'd excel by being bottled at CS: 3
Glenfarclas 22yo 1987-2009 55.8% OB
There are quite a few single cask bottlings from Glenfarclas around, and they're often extremely good sherried variations. This one has an amber/orange hue. It smells aniseed, oranges, dried fruits, grainy, tea shop, cumin powder. Not what I'd expect from a 20+Glenfarclas. It seems much younger so far. The taste is caramelly, more oranges, pickled cucumber, pineapple juice, red apples, bitter sherry, need some water? With a small splash it turns drier, more acidic, burnt. Dusty and dry is what best describes it on my behalf.
For fino freaks, I believe: 4
Glenfarclas 8yo 57% OB
A flat square bottle, maybe from the 80's. I know G&M had a lot of those, and many were very good. It smells rich, rustic, dried fruits, dark berries, grape juice, peat, black pepper. The taste is sweet, thyme, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, grape fruit, pepper, honey, cigar smoke, nettles. This one bites quite a bit, but the underlying heavy sherry notes of cinnamon and honey levels this one out perfectly. I'd say its one of the best 8yo's I've ever had, and there's been quite a few.
Old style sherry monster: 8.5
Glenfarclas NAS 60% OB Heritage
A more recent high strength OB. I did like the 105 quite a bit, and hope this is of the same kind. The color is light brown. I cannot escape the thought of this being part of a recent trend with re-filling old casks with inferior sherry before maturing spirit for another vey short period in them, for a high-strength NAS-version. It can work, but more often than not it lacks a bit of magic. This one smells powerful and peppery, some sherried notes, but mostly its just plain spirity. The taste is much better, phenolic, drying, oregano, basil, dried junipers, citron, lemon, dry sherry, plum spirit, shallots, earthy, olive oil, very much better than what the nose suggested. Water is irrelevant for such a young whisky, but I did add some, and it just made it more spirity.
No magic here, but very good indeed: 6.5
Finally, some small concluding notes of these tastings of whisky from distilleries that I would refer to as "classics", one may agree or disagree...
#1 Tomatin: Needs high strength to be lifted from the more mediocre standard bottlings, all in all a very neutral malt whisky.
#2 Springbank: All over very high standard, old as well as young, an excellent surprise as my former notes of this whisky has usually had lower scores.
#3 Glen Grant: A whisky that fits in right above average in my book, surely a pleasant malt, but for too boring, somewhat curbing my enthusiasm.
#4 Macallan: Thankfully it seemed the newest bottlings from Macallan, the Elchies series, held the highest of standards in this otherwise plain tasting.
#5 Glengoyne: Much the same as Glen Grant, just a bit light and easy on my palate, but for someone that likes an unchallenging dram, perfect.
#6 Highland Park: All over high and consistent scores, even the new Magnus editions pleased me very well, a classic that never stops delivering.
#7 Aberlour: For sherry freaks in particular I think, but the one I thought was the best was the only non-sherried whisky in the session.
#8 Glenfiddich: Not many whiskies to try this time, but the ones I did try showed Glenfiddich maybe was a bit better back then, but weren't they all?
#9 Glenlivet: The wheaty and floury whisky tells it all. If given time even the lightest of whiskies can show excellence, and Glenlivet did.
#10 Glenfarclas: Another one for the sherry freaks, but this one seemed a bit more consistent than Aberlour, and very good also at young age.
Next tasting: Ben Nevis Distillery
Ingen kommentarer:
Legg inn en kommentar