Glenfarclas 21 Year (Re-Review)

Review by: TOModera

Re-reviews are fun. Let me just start with that. And it was Allumina who sent me this initially as a blind review back for secret swap, and I decided that I needed to re-review it, as I wanted a cleaner palate, no time limit, and generally to be in a better mood to give it a fair shake.

Also it would be interesting to see how much I deviate between tasting notes.

So, here’s Glenfarclas 21. 21 years in sherry casks. Comes from a long, long, long line of other Glenfarclas, of which I hope to someday have tried most of them.

I say most because they have a line of Family Casks that are a wee bit out of my price range. On a good day. After winning at the Casino. Twice.

Also the 40 year must be hard to find.

None the less, I’ll do my best. Let’s see how I compare.

Distillery: Glenfarclas Distillery.

Bottler: Distillery Bottling.

Region: Speyside.

ABV: 43%.

Age: 21 years.

Cask type: Sherry Cask.

Price: N/A in the LCBO

Color: Gold.

Nose: Strawberry, cloves, grapefruit, peach, dry, orange, tannins, oak

Last time I caught the oak first, and had a more complete view of the spices. I had missed the strawberries, thinking it was oranges and grapefruit.

So I did okay in calling the nose between the two times, not great.

Taste: Walnut, strawberry, cherry, cloves, pepper, licorice, guava

Some things were more similar this time. The guava and walnut are equivalent to me thinking about apricot upside down cake. Raspberry instead of strawberry and cherry. I picked up more smoke and iodine last time, and none this time.

So again, I did okay, but I’ll need to step up my game for future blind reviews.

Finish: Strawberry, cherry, cloves, pepper, ginger, apricot

So I finally picked up the apricot flavour from before, and some acidity and sweetness. I think the difference is I’ve been drinking a lot of Glenfarclas lately, and I generally expect that sherry red berry flavour.

Conclusion: This was very interesting. First up, I lined up with my old score. This is slightly better than the 17 year. That said, I think that last time I had “Too Much” before trying it, and that may have changed some notes. Having it now, with lots of water and ensuring I was ready, and after trying a lot more Glenfarclases, I’d say I feel more confident about the above versus the blind.

Also I’ll be working a lot harder on blind reviews moving forward.

Final Score: 84.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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