Glenfarclas 12 year old Whisky

Tasting the Glenfarclas 12 year old single malt Scotch whisky this week brought back some fond memories. I purchased this bottle of Glenfarclas 12 year old on my most recent visit to Dullstroom. It was one of the whiskies I tasted in the bar during the weekend away, and I just had to stock up.

The Glenfarclas distillery sits in Banffshire, just a mile from the River Spey, in the heart of Speyside. Established in 1865 the distillery is still family-owned.  Glenfarclas produces several expressions in the traditional Speyside style, with a heavy sherry influence.

It is one of the few Scottish distilleries that never use exotic woods for maturation. Both the bottle and tube are presented in the now-classic Glenfarclas packaging. The distillery is situated in the middle of green pastures. A perfect place for whisky.

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The range includes a Glenfarclas 10 year old, 15 year old, Glenfarclas 17 year old whisky,  up to a 30 year old whisky and even a Glenfarclas 40 year old whisky. There is also the Glenfarclas 105 release as well as the various Family Cask releases.

Glenfarclas has a beautiful visitors center on-site, and it is one of the places on my bucket list to visit.  How perfect would it be to taste some of the older Family Casks right there at the distillery?

Glenfarclas 12 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Speyside

ABV:  43%

COLOUR: Vibrant amber gold.  I think that the sherry renders it more copper in nature.

NOSE: Lots of sherry and honey. There are subtle hints of spice, oak and smoke.

PALATE: Nice, medium-bodied mouthful. The sherry sweetness immediately comes through with further notes of fruitcake, raisins, oak and spice.  The 12 year old is not a complex whisky, but the flavours are beautifully balanced.

FINISH: An interesting one. Initially, I thought it dropped off quickly, but it comes back! It has a long tail with spice and  honey.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The overall impression of this is a well-rounded whisky. The whisky lacks complexity, but it has an amazing finish. It is easily one of the most sherried whiskies I have tasted. I have also tasted an older 12 year old release from Glenfarclas. Similar to this release, it was also bursting with plums, caramel and raisins with the sherry notes.

The the releases were from different periods and  has very different packaging but you can taste the similarities in the sherry fruitiness.  Interestingly, the finish on the older release was much shorter than the finish on this release.

In 2006 this Glenfarclas 12 year old whisky was named the ‘Best Sherried Whisky’ in the Single Malt World Cup, and I can understand why.

My friend Marc, from the Whisky Brothers shop, also loves this whisky but suggests that the Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength 60% ABV has an even greater sherried nature.

I will certainly be looking out for this expression in future, but for now, I highly recommend the Glenfarclas 12 year old whisky. A great addition to my collection.

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Glenfarclas and Food Pairings

There was still some Woolworths Cherry Genoa Christmas cake leftover. I paired our second glass of the Glenfarclas 12 yo with this cake. The whisky made the Cherry Genoa  rich and fruity, while the Glenfarclas sherry notes were accentuated. It makes for a lovely pairing!

I also tried the Glenfarclas with a sweet dessert cheese (White Rock with cranberries) to see if I can get a similar result, but the soft dessert cheese and the sherry whisky did not pair well. If you have tasted this Glenfarclas 12 yo whisky, or the Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength, I would love to hear your impressions.

Update: I paired this release with some Wensleydale cheese with cranberries. See how this pairing worked.  This release has made it onto my Top 5 Single Malt whiskies under R500 for 2014 list.

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