Tenfarclas


September 15, 2018

	Angus's Corner From our casual Scottish correspondent and guest taster Angus MacRaild
	Tenfarclas
	Due to an unexpected, but very welcome, deluge of Glenfarclas (Glenfarcli?), I’ll be doing two or three dedicated Glenfarclas tastings over the course of the next few weeks. Somehow I shall endure. Let’s go forward by vintage for a change and begin with a suitably low strength old indy before rolling up our sleeves and tucking into the officials.

Glenfarclas 42 yo 1973/2015 (40.2%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, bourbon barrel, 168 bottles)

Colour: oaked white wine. Nose: lush green fruits and polished hardwoods. Pure old Glenfarclas in other words. It leans more towards a hessian sack cloth / dunnage / fragrant sandalwood profile as time goes on but these notes of ripe banana, dried tropical fruit chunks and apple crumble remain. Some steel wool and brass polish along with some quince paste. All very excellent and lovely. Mouth: surprisingly full considering the strength. Lots of banana, custard, lemon zest, herbal teas, golden syrup, old ointments and waxes. Camphor and more of these polish notes. Finish: Medium but bright, fruity and full of yellow flowers, more waxes and a little biscuity sweetness and coconut. Comments: quite simply, a delicious and very quaffable old Glenfarclas. The finish is a tad short but it never feels too tired or woody, indeed its freshness is its real asset. Good start!
SGP: 651 - 90 points.

Glenfarclas 1977/2017 Family Casks (45.3%, OB, cask #7260, 4th fill hogshead, 182 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: very close to the 73 only fuller, fruitier and with a thicker, waxier profile. More dunnagey, hessian notes, some gloopy, grassy olive oil and a sense of well-aged Sauternes. Honey, dark fruit jams and flambeed banana. Harmonious and very beautiful. Mouth: perfect mix of biting wood spice, textural, ripe green fruitiness and waxy aspects. Hints of nutmeg and cinnamon with a lit of pipe tobacco. A sad simple but really excellent and very ‘pure’ in character, if you see what I mean. Finish: Long, lemony, oily, fruity and with just a little black peppery spice from the wood but never too much. Comments: The wonders of refill wood etc... I’m aware I sound like a broken record on this subject.
SGP: 761 - 91 points.

Glenfarclas 1979/2017 Family Casks (47.9%, OB, cask #8797, 4th fill hogshead, 220 bottles)

Colour: light gold. Nose: lighter and brighter this time. The fruitiness really dominates here; all on baked apples, custard, gooseberry tart, lemon balm, honeysuckle, wildflowers and pollens. Some green banana, wax, chopped dates, muesli and sandalwood. Delicate and extremely attractive. Mouth: some kind of very old chenin with this wonderful rich, honeyed oiliness. A few leaner, mineral aspects, heathery notes, camphor, tea tree oil, buttery toast and many wee green fruity notes and lemony touches. Quite terrific! Finish: Good length, moving towards various teas: chamomile, mint and green, some exotic dried fruits and wood spices. Comments: The 1979s already possess something of a serious reputation, further grist to that particular mill in this instance I think. I love the deftness of it, extremely quaffable stuff.
SGP: 751 - 91 points.

Glenfarclas 1980/2014 Family Casks (48.0%, OB, cask #1411, refill hogshead, 260 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: What’s fascinating is that you really start to see a change from the 1970s here, all the previous ones possessed an immediate and connected fruitiness. Here the profile is straight away more towards exotic spices and notes of pot pourri, jasmine, white pepper and lamp oil. There is a fruitiness but its leaner and not quite as immediate or abundant as in the previous ones. Some caramelised brown sugar, lime cheesecake and fruit-flavoured shisha pipe tobaccos. Still excellent! Mouth: wonderful thickness and spiciness. Lots of wax, mineral oil, oily rags and lemon peel. Some coal dust, hessian and wood spice. Finish: long, lemony, spicy and rather fatty with a thick oiliness. Comments: Another top notch Glenfarclas. You miss the exuberant fruitiness a little in this one, but this big gathering of waxes and spiciness is really terrific as well.
SGP: 661 - 90 points.

Glenfarclas 1980/2017 Family Casks (44.5%, OB, cask #1414, refill hogshead, 262 bottles)

Colour: oaked white wine. Nose: you can immediately feel that the cask is much less active in this one but the underlying distillery character is consistent in that the exuberant fruitiness of the 1970s has been dialled down quite a bit. Instead here you have a very gentle profile composed of waxes, ink, light sootiness, toasty cereals, green apple, touches of old cider and some fresh gooseberry. There’s even a slight chalkiness which is very nice. Some white flowers, ripe pear and a hint of lemon oil. Mouth: elegant, drier, and more chiselled that cask 1411. Mineral oil, soft camphor notes, lime oil, cereals, crushed oatcakes and honeyed porridge. An underlying waxy foundation keeps everything well-structured. Some tannins nibble around the edges of the tongue. Some white fruits such as lychee emerge. Finish: medium-long. Notes of green banana, baking soda, pear drops and dried herbs. Comments: Still really excellent but it’s fascinating to see how the distillery character evolves with time.
SGP: 561 - 89 points.

Glenfarclas 1981/2017 Family Casks (54.6%, OB, cask #1606, 4th fill butt, 523 bottles)

Colour: pale white wine. Nose: this is different again, an extremely minimal cask really thrusts the distillate into the light. Lemon skins, pear drops, wax paper, ink, chalk, porridge, very light honey and hessian. It’s a profile that nods more towards old style highland whisky than a classical Glenfarclas profile. Very cool! Hints of paraffin and old tool boxes. With water: lemon balm, blossom, fresh linen bitter ales. Mouth: extremely grassy, mineral and chalky. Lots of fatty olive oil, mustard powder, sunflower seeds and something like caraway. Quite extreme really. With water: muesli, oatcakes, rice crackers and even something a bit coastal, like dried seaweed. Slightly crazy stuff. Finish: long, earthy, sooty and mineral with these stony and flinty edges. Some green pepper as well. Comments: I’d almost say this was too young. A rather intense, chiselled and hefty Glenfarclas, the distillate has nowhere to hide in this cask but, thankfully, it’s excellent and comes out swinging. Quite extreme and I suspect some would dislike it, but I think on a technical level it’s very good, even if it is a tad tough at times. We’re a long way from the 1970s now...
SGP: 471 - 88 points.

Glenfarclas 1983/2015 Family Casks (53.0%, OB, cask #49, refill hogshead, 341 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: we’re back in this rather brittle, mineral and chiselled profile that’s really more ‘old school highlander’ than Speyside. Crushed aspirin, ink, lemon peel and grassy olive oil. However, in time, out comes yellow flowers, pollens and some cooked asparagus. Gets earthy, sooty and displays these rather lovely notes of earl grey tea and pink peppercorns. With water: lemongrass, soot, light ointments, wax paper and more inky notes. Mouth: lemon infused baking soda, more of this strangely coastal dried seaweed note, the miso broth of a good ramen and buttery popcorn. A very curious mixed bag of flavours but also very entertaining. Cornflour, starchy linen, gooseberry, nettle tea and some petrol notes. With water: lemon tea, throat sweets, honeyed porridge and more chalkiness. Finish: long, slightly ashy, mineral, peppery, sooty and with a drying quality. Comments: A continuation of this style found in the previous two casks. Perhaps this slightly austere and punchy character is an 80s Glenfarclas hallmark? Once again, I suspect it isn’t for everyone, and you probably couldn’t drink more than a glass, but I think it has many merits.
SGP: 461 - 88 points

Glenfarclas 1986/2016 Family Casks (56.4%, OB, cask #3452, refill sherry butt, 532 bottles)

Colour: amber. Nose: big, beefy and earthy sherry. Lots of black truffle, dried mushrooms, beef jerky and various dark fruit compotes. Fig jam, strawberry wine and walnut oils. You can see how this more brutal style of distillate works so well with a big hefty sherry cask like this. They compliment each other rather than going to war. Gets increasingly leathery with pipe tobacco and black pepper. With water: some beautiful notes of rancio and wax along with orange peel and soft wood spices. Mouth: really quite massive, spicy and polished. Lots of boot polish, hessian cloth, blood orange, mulling spices and lanolin. Mushroom powder, bitter chocolate and cocktail bitters. Full on and very excellent. With water: rosewater, blossom, Turkish delight, treacle pudding, mint creams. Top notch stuff! Finish: long, extremely earthy, peppery and weighty with cured meats, olive oil and hints of old herbal liqueurs. Comments: No wonder Glenfarclas and sherry make such natural bedfellows. Must have been particularly active cask given this was a refill!
SGP: 671 - 90 points.

Glenfarclas 1986/2017 Family Casks (52.8%, OB, cask #3447, refill sherry butt, 546 bottles)

Colour: amber. Nose: Similarly earthy but this time more fragrant, more herbal and a tad more subtle. Towards chamomile, wildflowers, balsamic, rancio and walnut wine. Notes of hessian, salted dark chocolate, leaf mulch and tree bark. Quite beautiful. There is a meatiness as well but it’s more game and terrines. Some lemon balm and cough medicine emerge in time. With water: orange water, lemon cough drops, soot and a little glimmer of fresh barley. Mouth: rich dark fruit syrups, hessian, chocolate, salted caramel sauce, truffle oil and caraway. Some sticky toffee pudding, muesli and mineral oil. Gets similarly leathery over time with notes of black tea, dried mint and honeycomb. With water: biscuity sweetness, hints of shortbread then a mushroomy note, more sootiness, camphor and a touch of old pinot noir. Finish: long, earthy, peppery, nicely tannic, black tea, lemon balm, cough medicine and raspberry wine. Comments: I think there is an edge of subtlety about this one which makes it worthy of one extra point over its sibling. Wonderful old sherried farclas!
SGP: 661 - 91 points.

Glenfarclas 1987/2017 Family Casks (44.3%, OB, cask #1494, 4th fill butt, 525 bottles)

Colour: light amber. Nose: for a 4th fill butt there is still a fairly impressive residual sherry influence going on here. A rather elegant mix of earthy, leathery, sooty and raisiny notes. Hints of sultana, old cognac, leafy freshness, milk chocolate, cigar boxes, turmeric and a touch of butterscotch sauce. Quite different from the 86s, it’s evidently a much lighter profile and style but still excellent. Mouth: a softer, leafier and more gently waxy profile. Hot cross buns studded with raisins, lemon balm, throat sweets, mint julep, demerara sugar and buttery brown toast. Orange oils and tiger balm emerge as well. Some distant hints of rancio and toffee. Finish: Long, earthy, lemony, some subtle herbal notes, more sultanas and camphor. Comments: There were aspects which alluded to some of the earlier 70s distillates with these soft fruity notes. I think the natural low strength works a treat here, extremely drinkable, sherry accented old Glenfarclas.
SGP: 651 - 90 points.

Well! That was quite a session, with a satisfyingly high hit rate. What’s really fascinating is to see how the house style of Glenfarclas really evolved over time, the way it pivots exactly on the turn of the decade around 1980 is quite striking. For reasons of fun and science a vatting of all 10 is totally stupendous and easily 92 points. So, should you be rich and crazy enough, you can safely go and acquire a bottle of each for your own house ‘Megafarclas’.

Next time we will commence from 1988 and continue from there...

Heartfelt thanks to Dirk!