Glenfarclas 1989 Distillery Exclusive.

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Glenfarclas and their sherried whisky, so when I visited the distillery in late May I had to buy something, as it turned out I walked away with several bottles ( like you do ) and this Distillery exclusive from 1989 was one of them.  This 26yo is bottle 399 / 585 and is bottled at 56.3%… The colour is amazing and I’m not one for mentioning colour as there are still too many companies putting out bottles  that contain E150, but thankfully the people behind Glenfarclas are not in that club ! Bravo..  Everything you get from these guys is natural and  another plus for this bottle is the abv.. 56.3%  – cask strength, the way it should be..

So what’s it like ?

Nose.. Full on darkness.. This has big bursts of the finest dates, sultanas and figs, candied orange, toffee apples, bonfire toffee and dark treacle.. Some fruity notes in the form of poached pear with manuka honey and cinder toffee.  A little spice nips the nose with delicate oak aromas giving the age away.

 

Palate.. This lays a thick carpet of sweet eastern delights across the tongue, wave after wave of dark fruits are followed by a slight drying feel, with bonfire toffee and burnt caramel, molasses and bitter chocolate mingle with aniseed and coffee notes, candied orange and a little oak come through just to enhance the pleasure..

 

Finish.. Not overly long but very very pleasent, just entices you in for another sip.

 

Thoughts.. This is a little piece of history that needs to be repeated, these casks that Glenfarclas keep bottling are little gems.  The drying mouth feel combined with the rich dark fruit flavours are just delightful. The balance is about perfect and the complexity is there in abundance.. Another top notch release from Glenfarclas, the only shame is there is none left to buy.. More please George !