Glenfarclas to the maximum


August 16, 2023

Glenfarclas to the maximum

First a few either young or NAS expressions, which is kind of the same thing, we agree. Long-time no entry-level Glenfarclas on WF, we'll also try to add a few rarities to the end of this classic little tasting session. Perhaps not that 'little', we'll see what we can do…

(Magazine ad, 1976)

Glenfarclas 10 yo (40%, OB, +/-2023)

We last tried the 10 in 2017 and found it really to our liking (WF 84). Colour: light gold. Nose: it really is a classic malty, chalky and porridgey whisky, close to the ingredients, with some yeast, barley and well-behaved oak. Goes on with ripe apples, as expected, apricots, croissants, and the feeling of being in a good neighbourhood bakery, very early in the morning. Mouth: good, fruity, with even more apples and cider, some white pepper upfront, scones and shortbread, speculoos, cakes… The maltiness keeps it afloat despite this low strength that has now really gone out of fashion almost everywhere in Whiskydom, and that would make this baby a tad teaish and cardboardy in the end. Finish: shortish but pleasantly caky and malty. Some oranges. More cider and white pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: perhaps not sheer poetry, but it does its job correctly, which this ten has been doing for years. As for those 40% vol…
SGP:451 - 82 points.

Glenfarclas 'Private Reserve 46th Anniversary' (46%, OB, France, 9,999 bottles, 2022)

It is not the Distillery's 46th anniversary, naturally, it's the length of the partnership with their importer, the house Mähler-Besse, co-owners of famous Margaux Château Palmer. Colour: full gold. Nose: a richer style, with more sherry, millionaire shortbread, something slightly basaltic, old walnuts, prunes, a few drops of armagnac, dark chocolate, touch of truffle and gunpowder, a little artichoke… It's getting more and more chocolaty over the minutes, very nice, a bit old-school. Mouth: very good, classic sherry, rather oloroso-y, that is to say on walnuts, tobacco and indeed chocolate. Golden Grahams and Ovaltine coming through as well, a little stout too… Finish: medium, roasted, malty. Brown toasts and more Ovaltine. Comments: I suppose they have not done any finishing in ex-Palmer barriques, but that may have been tempting. But does Glenfarclas still never do finishings, as was the case twenty years ago?
SGP:551 - 86 points.

Glenfarclas 2010/2022 'Christmas Edition' (46%, OB, 2022)

Aged in oloroso sherry. Aren't we a bit late once more? I'm noticing that they keep calling themselves 'a Highland'. Colour: full gold. Nose: very similar whisky, this one being just a notch nuttier and with more oranges. Perhaps…. We're extremely close, nonetheless. In cases like this one, the taster must be careful not to swap his/her glasses, or everything's ruined. Mouth: ditto. You would almost believe this was the same batch, but we won't complain, it's excellent young sherried Glenfarclas. Finish: perhaps a little more chocolate and fig jam? Comments: merry Christmas (what?)
SGP:551 – 86 points.

Glenfarclas 14 yo 'Oloroso Sherry Cask' (43.4%, OB, 2022)

I had never seen this baby before, but as always, Glenfarclas + Oloroso sounds cool. Colour: gold. Nose: this is different, a little lighter – while that's not only the lower strength – and more on cereals, cornflakes, maple syrup, granola, then indeed walnut wine, honey, rye bread, cinnamon rolls… So a sweeter, fruitier, more floral kind of maltiness while it remains very 'sherry'. Mouth: more oak impact here, more pepper and cinnamon, some drier tea-ness… There's something hot, chili-like, while the core remains fruity and rather jammy. You would say some fig jam flavoured with chilli sauce. Who is ready to give that a try? Please send us updates… Finish: medium, as spicy, with a feeling of walnut stain beyond all this chilli. Comments: a little unusual. Did they add one ex-Tabasco cask? Don't laugh, George Dickel did that kind of thing not too long ago.
SGP:461 - 84 points.

Higher strengths please (and less chilli, if possible)…

Glenfarclas 'Heritage Cask Strength' (60%, OB, +/-2022)

What's the main difference between this baby and the famous '105'? We'll try to find out… This is a recent batch but they've been doing this expression for more than ten years I think. Colour: gold. Nose: same vein, just a tad more on rocks and tobacco, burnt caramel, choco malt… It is not overpowering. With water: simple, square, on malt and walnuts. Whiffs of fern in the background. Mouth (neat): rich, a tad flinty and vegetal at first (cabbage, eggplant), and certainly very peppery once more. It reminds me a bit of a brown chili beer that some young brewers are making here in our valley, when no one's watching. With water: no wait, it's actually rather sweeter, rather on cherries, kriek beer, Mon Chéri, chocolate, and rather a lot of cracked pepper, if not chilli this time. Finish: long, jammy and peppery. Chocolate, old boy's jam and pepper liqueur. Chilli is back in the aftertaste. Comments: it's pretty talkative, and not as rustic as I would have thought.
SGP:561 - 85 points.

So we said the 105…

Glenfarclas '105' (60%, OB, +/-2023)

Simply one of our favourites, while we're following this expression closely, like every two or three years. Colour: pale gold. Wasn't it darker, in the past? Nose: rather more on fresh malt, fresh fruit, earth and doughs, plus root vegetables aplenty. Artichokes and honey, turnips, moist wholegrain bread… So far, so nice. With water: touch of pencil shaving, bark, stout, some ashes… Mouth: hard to explain, I would say this 105 has got more Glenfarclasness than the 'Heritage'. Huge dark malt, dark honeys, cracked peppercorns, eggplants and Jerusalem artichokes, parsnips… Enough to make a wonderful gratin. Love this rusticity, always have, since the '104' (but we tried the latter later). With water: high-class hipflask malt, provided it's a solid silver flask. Or pure gold, why not. Everything's in its place, balance is perfect, power is there, we're happy as a gypsy at an international guitar show (or an amateur gardener at an ancient rose exhibition). Right, right. Finish: Comments: did they not further improve their 105? I think it got a little sweeter again, after some drier (yet excellent) recent batches.
SGP:651 - 88 points.

Boy was that 105 loud and potent, I think we'll need a good single cask now…

Glenfarclas 15 yo 2001/2016 (58.2%, OB, for Asian Taste Buds Association, sherry, cask #2143)

They know and love their heavier sherries in Asia. I'm sure I've got some distant Asian ancestors too. Colour: red mahogany. Nose: sumptuous peonies, cedar shavings, blackberry jelly, armagnac, the moistest prunes, some hoisin sauce (there we go) and, first and foremost, a lot of cassis jelly, cream and liqueur. You could make royal kirs out of this one, just add a lot of Bollinger. With water: fig wine, umeshu, armagnac and 'vieille prune de Souillac'. You may check that out. Mouth (neat): extremely rich, thick, shock-full of chocolate and crème de cassis, plus clove and cracked pepper. With water: sameish. The 105 with more thicker sherry. Finish: very long, heavy-not-cloying, this time with more coffee and even a drop of salty chicken bouillon. Plays with your lips. Comments: one of those impeccable middle-aged heavily sherried Glenfarclas that would tend to fly to the loveliest parts of Asia. I know I'd love to be able to do that too.
SGP:661 - 88 points.

Another heavier, older SC, perhaps…

Glenfarclas 29 yo 1992/2021 'Godzilla' (54.6%, OB for Whisky Mews, Hideo Yamaoka, Japan, 1st fill sherry butt, cask #2910, 541 bottles)

Our friend Hideo at the helm this time, what could go wrong? Colour: rich amber. Nose: totally classic, full of praline, milk chocolate, Camels and Luckies, figs, dried jujubes, dates, old cognac… I find it pretty lounge-y this far, ueber-classic in other words, and rather in the style of a famous Distillery in Craigellachie, although I know comparison isn't reason. With water: tiny herbs, tiny roots, tiny leaves, tiny flowers. Mouth (neat): it's incredible how close we are to 'that' Distillery. It's true that they've been proper competitors all along, haven't they. Figs, raisins, fruitcake, tiny mentholy touches, liquorice, soft earth, well-cured tobacco… With water: the most precious raisins popping out. Finish: not thaaaaat long but perfect, in all raisinness and with a little old sweet wine. Comments: a grand Ma… Glenfarclas. More Ryuichi Sakamoto (RIP) than Godzilla if you ask me, that is to say all elegance and refinement. Could be that the name 'Godzilla' had led us down the wrong track at the beginning, but that's just us being silly.
SGP:651 - 91 points.

Further down the years…

Glenfarclas 1978/2022 (44.6%, OB, Family Casks, fourth-fill hogshead, cask #755, 84 bottles)

From the summer of 2022 release. Hurray, a fourth-fill hogshead! Did Queen Victoria herself do the first filling? Colour: Meursault (what?) Nose: immediately makes me think of an old 'B' from Dufftown, from similar or even older vintages. Sublime mirabelles, quinces and apricots, white flowers (acacia, woodruff), the noblest custard, some multi-floral meadow honey, and just 'a beehive in the midst of summer'. Terrific, pure, elegant, entrancing nose. Mouth: wait, isn't this baby either 43 or 44? Once more it's full of yellow fruits and flowers, honeys, nectars, beeswax, wrinkled old apples, sesame and pistachio halva, roasted sunflower seeds, then citrus (say citrons and bergamots). Finish: medium, incredibly fresh, very floral. Borage and edible pansies, I'd say, so obviously, flower nectar. The bees are right, they are always right. Comments: there's not only sherry in Glenfarclas' life. It was a like a beehive in my tasting glass, minus the stings – the glories of multiple refills!
SGP:651 - 92 points.

This is really getting vertical…

Glenfarclas 15 yo 1967/1983 (70°proof, Averys of Bristol, 75cl)

Love it that the old label would tell us that this whisky 'was purchased by Averys in 1967 from the distillery at Ben Rinnes'. Maybe because they weren't having any iPhones, emails or MS-Excel sheets back then? Happy times, don't you think? Having said that we've only tried a Glenfarclas by Averys once, it was a smoky 1969 for the Corti Brothers in California. Great-not-grand in my book (WF 88). Colour: white wine. Nose: whiffs of old coins and toolbox at first, then stewed apples and a touch of cabbage (no sulphur though), then white chocolate, salty popcorn (no caramel), morels, humus, autumn leaves, white ham, cider and riesling, cranberries, grouse… Quite some OBE, I would suppose, but the core remained immaculate. Great vintages everywhere, those mid-late sixties. Mouth: oh, power was kept, there's this smoke, this saltiness, these bouillons and soups, some suet perhaps, soot for sure, all kinds of dried and candied fruits kept in some old tin boxes, then tiny liquoricy herbs, dill, fennel, aniseed, also watercress… Finish: not too long 'of course' but still very well alive, full of those small herbs, coated with old oils and waxes. Typical good OBE. Comments: assigning a score to an old whisky like this is a bit pretentious, as the emotional aspect plays a significant role. Let's try to remain somewhat neutral, if we may say so. It's like those old actresses who will remain beautiful forever.
SGP:341 - 90 points.

I think it's time we have a very last one. Please…

Glenfarclas 21 yo (43%, OB, USA, 75cl, 1980s)

I think the reputation of these old official square-bottled versions is well-established. They used to be pretty easy to find, but today everybody knows that the juices can be utterly splendid, regardless of their ages. Probably late-1950s-early-1960s distillate here. Colour: deep gold. Nose: oh, great old chardonnay, mead, dried figs and cigars, with earths and leaves in the background. There's also a stunning waxiness (beeswax) and a little pine resin and cough syrup. It almost feels like they re-steeped the grist or draff in the wash before distillation – but who would do that and how? Did we mention small Turkish figs, by the way? Mouth: the smallest OBE (silver, chalk), then coffee, chocolate, sweet soups (caramelised onion), old triple-sec, marinade, more figs… It remained incredibly potent after all those years, if a little tertiary. Moves towards old rum at some point, which I find incredible, and even toward old Belgian trappiste beer, you know those that mature in the bottle. Finish: surely not the longest ever, but there is still a lot of energy and a beautiful definition. In short, dried figs. Comments: we shall probably adopt a conservative scoring approach once again, as we are facing another rather legendary old whisky. No, once more we won't care about its (very) minor flaws.
SGP:541 - 90 points.

Eleven 'farclas, that's the maximum volume. I wasn't hoping we'd go this far, but I'm glad we did.

(Thanks a lot Aaron/LMDW, Andy/whiskyprism and the MMs)

Check the index of all Glenfarclas we've tasted so far