Glenfarclas - 20 March 2009 - 7pm GMT

[Ras Mazunga]

Glenfarclas 1980 Christmas single highland malt 46% bottled 2006 port pipes cask no. 11062
n: starting with tobacco, cane sugar, it takes quiet some time to open up. finally after 10 minutes something starts to happen. oak, red fruits, creme brulee and finally christmas cake.
t: tobacco, oak(rather heavy), red wine, raisins
f: liquorice, anis, spicy like cinnamon, dry
c: gets better every sip. the dry tobaccco notes could be a little less.


This whisky makes me realise that the taste of anis and tobacco are similar.

Thanks to Bachess from http://www.whiskybase.com for this sample

[LagaDrinker]

Glenfarclas 105 60%

N: Deep fruit cake, toffee notes, hint of oranges and ?apricots

T: Warms the mouth quickly because of the strength, layers of different fruits, hint of christmas cake, orange and spices.

F: medium length heart warming finish that leaves the fruit on the tongue for a good while.

I really like this as an entry level to the glenfarclas range a very worthwhile dram, especially is you like cask strength

8/10

[Willie JJ]

Nice notes gang. I went to a bourbon tasting on Friday night and found that there were 5 bottles between 7 of us and 3 quickly decided they weren't bourbon fans. Yesterday I was in recovery mode and today I have been trying to catch up on what I didn't do yesterday, so I haven't even looked to see what Glenfarclas I have. No open bottles that I can think of, but I may have some samples and I could open one. I'll sort it out tomorrow I think.

[LagaDrinker]

I still have the 15 and 10 to try and post notes on - gonna do that tomorrow. See you here Willie, what time will you be on? About 8 suits me.

[jimidrammer]

Anyone put the 15yo @46% abv side by side with the 17yo @43%abv? We only get the 17 in the U.S. and I believe the 15 is exclusive to the European market. Always wondered why that is and the differences.

[Wave]

Anyone put the 15yo @46% abv side by side with the 17yo @43%abv? We only get the 17 in the U.S. and I believe the 15 is exclusive to the European market. Always wondered why that is and the differences.

I haven't tasted the 15yo and the 17yo side-by-side but I've tasted the 15yo along with the 21, 25, 30 and 105 at a master class at Glenfarclas last year. The 15yo was quite good but the 30yo (another one we don't get here) was magnificent and surprisingly not as woody as the 25yo!

Cheers!

[Wave]

My one and only (open) Glenfarclas.

Glenfarclas 31yo 1974 OB 57.4% ABV

No water
Color: Deep Mahogany
Nose: Spicy Christmas cake, Baking chocolate, slight whiffs of smoke
Palate: Creamy spicy and sweet, sherry-soaked cherry-filled chocolates
Finish: Long and drying, late pangs of smoke
Can you say cracker?!!


Cheers!

[Wave]

Now with a little added spring water

Nose; Water adds a flower bouquet and loads of smoke
Palate: Still quite creamy but not as sweet, spicy and even some slight peatiness
Finish: Creamy swallow and a long spicy sweet finish smoky till the end.



Cheers!

[mikeymad]

My one and only (open) Glenfarclas.

Glenfarclas 31yo 1974 OB 57.4% ABV

Can you say cracker?!!
Cheers!

Mikey want....

Cheers,

[Wave]

My one and only (open) Glenfarclas.

Glenfarclas 31yo 1974 OB 57.4% ABV

Can you say cracker?!!
Cheers!

Mikey want....

Cheers,

Here ya go m8! Glenfarclas 31yo 1974

Cheers and bon appetite!

[LagaDrinker]

Glenfarclas 1989 Family Cask 17 YO Cask 11721 60%

N: Enormous sherry, toffee, creamy, deep fruit, wine grape

T: First sherry, deep fruit cake, toffee, light almonds, vanilla

F: Enormous finish, rich dark chocolate, high cocoa content, creamy sherry keeps on coming and coming and coming.

If you like sherried whiskies from Glenfarclas then this is an excellent cask to try.

8.7/10

[LagaDrinker]

Glenfarclas 1979 Family Cask 28 YO Cask 146 52.8%

N: Light, zesty, pomegranate, estery

T: light fruit, banana, pear drops, strawberry pudding

F: Very long finish, releases a whole floral boquet of fruits, more pear, banana. Fabulous.

This is one of the few family casks that has not been matured in a sherry butt. Such a difference from most of the others in the series and different from a usual Glenfarclas. I really enjoyed this one.

9/10

[Willie JJ]

Hi James.

I've been raking the sample boxes but only came up with one Glenfarclas. As Ganga has reminded me I have an 11yo Traversos bottling I received in a parcel from Mikeymad last year. Thanks guys.

[LagaDrinker]

Glenfarclas 1969 Family Cask (II) 56.5% Cask 3185 38 YO

N: Immense sherry, absolutely huge, fruit cake, marzipan, more fruit cake, glace cherries.

T: Light sherry to start, fruit, more deep sherry fullness now, warming the whole mouth, sweet demarera sugar, almonds?

F: Long, sherry, lightly burnt chocolate, then huge sherry, lasts forever.

Rich mahogany in colour and the sherry in this is huge, all the different parts of a christmas cake in here, amazing.

9.1/10

Hi Willie, Good to see you, am looking forward to your notes.

[Willie JJ]

Glenfarclas 11yo 1996 46%, Traverso's 685 '96/'07 (Mikey is the 685 the cask number?)

Colour: Polished Mahogany
Nose : Sherry trifle, old tea, Love Hearts, coffee, something slightly singed, Horlicks, cream, milk chocolate and a hint of linseed oil. After 3 weeks of nosing bourbon this is something of a revelation. Nothing wrong with bourbon of course, but you have to search around for those aromas that depart from the style. Here the complexity leaps from the glass. Wonderful!
Palate: Hmm, after all that above there is something bourbony about the palate. There's certainly oranges and wood spice, but they are very fresh and lively. Resinous and peppery. And there's a zingy almost sherbetty thing going on in the middle. Very spicy for one so young though.
Finish: An amazing amount of wood on this for a relatively young malt. Comes through as bitter chocolate and I get the cherries that Ganga was talking about. Dries quite hot at the end.
Comment: Great stuff. A cracking, lively Glenfarclas that has taken more than its actual age from the cask. I don't think it could usefully have spent much more time in that wood though.

[Willie JJ]

That's a great set of Family Casks James. Nice to have that decade gap between them. Do you get a sense of the trajectory of ageing, or are the single casks just too random for that?

[LagaDrinker]

Glenfarclas 1959 Family Cask 52.5% Cask 816 48 YO

N: Deep sherry, rich christmas pudding, fruit cake marzipan, richer and fuller than the 69.

T: Christmas sherry, chocolate, sherry comes again, marzipan, more glaced cherries, fruit then subtley comes to the front

F: Probably the longest I have ever experienced, rich sherry, intensely long, fruti cake, christmas pudding, just goes on and on.

The Oldest whisky I have tried and it is worth every year in the cask. Bloody superb! The flavours and there intensity just hit you like a train. Then more sublte notes come through, and the finsh - well I think I'll still be able to taste this at Christmas

9.6/10

[LagaDrinker]

I really think that you do get the sense of the aging - apart from the 1979 which is non sherry but still a cracker

[Willie JJ]

Nice.

Well that's me I'm afraid. I had only that one sample and I've decided not to open another tonight, because I'm hosting a tasting on Friday and I'll be opening a bunch of bottles then.

Catch you later James.

Cheers

[LagaDrinker]

Glenfarclas 105 40YO 60%

N: Deep sherry, toffee, caramel

T: Sherry, fruit cake, christmas pudding, light fruits, chocolate

F: Huge, long, mouth hugging, sherry goes on and on, Everything that represents Glenfarclas is in this bottle.

An amazing achievement to bottle a 40YO at 60%. This was a marriage of two casks resulting in 893 bottles. This is a fantastic representation of Glenfarclas, however, if given the choice between this and the 1959 family cask I would chose the latter - only just though.

9.5/10

Great notes Willie

[Ryguy]

I still need to add my notes here.
This past weekend was very busy for me, but I'll work on doing them this week.

I only have 2 expressions of Glenfarclas at home, the 12yo OB and SMWS 1.139 14yo, 55.4%.

[mikeymad]

Glenfarclas 11yo 1996 46%, Traverso's 685 '96/'07 (Mikey is the 685 the cask number?)

Great notes Willie... I need to buy a couple more bottles of this for the future...

You are correct... I must have dropped the word cask off the label.... Traverso's cask 685..

[Ryguy]

I'm finally finding myself with a few minutes to post my notes on the two Glenfarclas expressions I tried last week.

Glenfarclas 12yo OB

Glass: SMWS

Nose: Light and fruity with some honey

Palate: Light oranges, more honey, and a nice mix of sweet spices.

Finish: Long and tasty, fruity sugars with a hint of oak.

[TheTross]

I have just the one Glenfarclas at home at the moment unfortunately, but I'll taste it in a bit and stick my notes in here.

Still not got round to doing this

Will definitely do it sometime this week!

[Ryguy]

Glenfarclas 14yo ( SMWS #1.139, 55.4% )

Glass: SMWS

Nose: Honey, sweet fruits and some spices

Palate: Starts sweet with dark chocolate, then becomes dry with wood notes and light fruits.

Finish: Very long and satisfying, mixed with bitter oragne peels and brown sugars.

Another great Society cask!