Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
Here are a couple of cask strength Glenfarclas (Glenfarclai?), both bottled a few years ago now. A standard 105 NAS from ~2015, and a 15 year old at cask strength bottled exclusively for The Whisky Exchange.
I don’t drink a lot of Glenfarclas. I prefer my scotch peated, but I’ve had many excellent sherry bombs from Glenfarclas and I think they generally put out a high quality product. Looking back through my notes I can’t find a Glenfarclas that I haven’t liked, so I’m looking forward to this.
Tasted on 5/9/2021, neat in a Glencairn.
Thanks to Washeewashee for this sample, which I’ve had kicking around for longer than I’m proud to admit at this point.
I have to quibble a little bit about the “Cask Strength” moniker on the label given that every release is exactly 60%.
Distillery: Glenfarclas
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Speyside
ABV: 60.0%, cask strength
Age: NAS. Bottled on 03/18/2015.
Cask type: Sherry
Nose: dried fruits w/ raisins, figs, cherries. Dark chocolate. Sandalwood. Tobacco. Malt. A bit hot. With Water: knocks the heat back. Some added orange rind. Slightly warmer spice, like cinnamon. The spice in this is excellent now; wood, baking spices, even some eucalyptus I think. Nice.
Taste: dark fruits, w/ lots of gooey figs, raisins, sultanas. Chocolate. Mild pepper. Tobacco. Rather oily mouthfeel. Hot. With Water: the fruit is sweeter, with some orange now. Mouthfeel is excellent. The heat is tamed. Creamy. More to the spice now w/ pepper and baking spices. Hazelnuts. A bit dry.
Finish: those dark fruits again; raisins and figs. A nice pop of woody/peppery spice. Tobacco. Chocolate. Nice length.With Water: again, sweeter fruit with a bit of orange. More chocolate. Cinnamon and other warm baking spices. Some maltiness. A little new leather.
Summary: Yea, I dig this, much more than I expected. It’s a bit hot when neat for sure with lots of nice dried fruits, chocolate, wood spice, and tobacco. A bit of water makes this shine. Tames the heat, sweetens the fruit and brings out some more orange and really nice spice. Beautiful balance actually, with some real depth to the nose. Not an off-note to be found anywhere. Lovely finish that lingers on fruit and warm spices.
I’d be curious to hear how much batch variance there is on this one. This batch is from 2015 afterall.
Would I buy a bottle? yup. If I’d gotten off my ass and tried this sample sooner I’d already own a bottle.
Final Score: 87.
Glenfarclas 15 Year 103 The Whisky Exchange Exclusive
This was a one-off bottling for The Whisky Exchange done in 2014. I bought this at their shop in London in 2016, so I guess it didn’t fly off the shelves. I don’t know how many bottles in the release, but I’m sure it’s not a single cask or they would’ve said so.
Distillery: Glenfarclas
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Speyside
ABV: 58.6%, cask strength
Age: 15 years old. Bottled on 06/27/2014.
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: lots of sweet, rich dried fruit. Chocolate. Cream. Baking spices. Honey. A bit hot. Leather. Almonds. With Water: heat is reduced, but still there. More cream. Leather. Much less spice.
Taste: sweet, rich fruit w/ figs, raisins, prunes. Chocolate. Rather dry. Cream. Warm baking spices. Almonds. Honey. Slightly oily mouthfeel. With Water: again, the heat is reduced a bit. A bit thinner in the mouth. Otherwise similar. More leather.
Finish: sweet dark fruit. Lots of white pepper. Chocolate. Almonds. Leather. Pretty hot. A bit dry. With Water: very similar. Lingers on sweet fruit and pepper, and dryness. And still fairly hot.
Summary: This is quite hot neat, and pretty simple actually, which is surprising. Much sweeter than the 105 for sure, especially on the nose where it’s too much. Water helps the palate but softens the nose; doesn’t really bring too much more out of it, which is a shame, and it remains fairly hot. No off-notes, but nothing very interesting either. Overall this is a nice dram, if a bit simple. I’d have liked to see water bring more out of it, but it just didn’t happen. For grins I tossed a bunch of water into the glass at the end, and it still comes off hot on the finish.
This is on the low end of Glenfarclas for me for sure.
Would I buy a bottle? no, go for the 105.
Final Score: 77.
Comparison
Order: 105 > 103
There’s a clear difference for me here. The 103 feels overly sweet and simple with too much ethanol even with water. The 105 brings great balance, decent complexity, and an excellent lingering finish.
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.
Malt Runners 