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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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June 16, 2026 |
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WF's Little Duos,
Pointless tastings:
two official Glenfarclas |
“Pointless” in the sense that here are two Glenfarclas that are old in every respect, and whose bottles have become both difficult and expensive to track down. In short, you could call this a selfish tasting, and you’d be absolutely right… |
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Glenfarclas 46 yo 1954/2000 (43%, OB, 1193 bottles) 
You will note that we find a certain charm in bottling strengths of 43% for bottles and vintages this old, after all it was more or less the norm for a very long time. Colour: deep gold. Nose: but my word, this is beautiful, by thunder! Dried figs are reigning supreme, accompanied by a little meadow honey and very slight chalky touches. It is not tremendously complex, but here that is precisely what gives the whole its charm, it remains compact, immediate, obvious, even when scents of honeysuckle begin to creep in. What beauty, it brings back memories of the 21 year olds, the likes of the ‘Giaccones’… Mouth: oh my, this is far more complex on the palate than it was on the nose, we have a veritable maelstrom of camphory, resinous, honeyed things, with dried fruits of every description, but also little candied citrus fruits that keep the whole more or less in the stratosphere. Very impressive indeed. Finish: almost long, in any case on similar notes, before moving onto earthier territories and, should I add, a hint of smoke as was common in post-war Speysiders. A few peppers of utterly mad elegance in the aftertaste. Comments: at 100 proof, this would be nudging 95. Easily.
SGP:562 - 93 points. |
You’ll notice that, out of modesty, we’re keeping these tasting notes to a very reasonable length. |
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Glenfarclas 50 yo 1963/2013 (43%, OB, sherry, cask #174, 136 bottles)
Mind you, it seems that this baby was released exclusively for Hong Kong and Macau. I should add that the Family Cask 1963/2007 #4098 was superb (WF 92), so we really have very high hopes here. Indeed, despite the 43% vol. Colour: Milanese espresso. In other words, ristretto. Nose: I feared it might collapse a little after the 1954, but nothing of the sort, it is simply very different, much more marked by the sherry, the oloroso, walnut liqueur, yet always with great elegance, almost a slight charming lightness inherent to these Glenfarclas vintages. Then strawberry soup with mint and very old Grande Champagne cognac, plus a handful of fatter, juicy Corinth raisins. Mouth: my goodness! It is almost aggressive at first, in the style of some current gloomy cretins world leaders but with much more class and distinctiveness, yet that would only last a split second, then it starts firing out roasted chestnuts in abundance, liquorice lozenges, fir and chestnut honey, very old Catalan rancios, and even a few drops of Jägermeister, Unicum or Underberg that scrape your throat a little with determination yet elegance. Cheers Lars. Finish: long, more resinous, moving squarely onto fir resin, chocolate and very dark tobacco. Comments: mag-ni-fi-cent. They were lucky in Hong Kong and Macau some dozen years ago… And it seems they still are.
SGP:561 - 93 points. |
(Thank you mucho, Ian and Ryan) |
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