Glenfarclas 25 Year Review
In-Depth Review
Glenfarclas has become famous for making incredible sherried Speyside whiskies over the last couple hundred years. With official founding in 1836, Glenfarclas has been in the whisky business a long time. They pride themselves on their excellent use of sherry casks and their amazing selection of old barrels – which has led to consistent releases of 50 year + whiskies.
Glenfarclas is a family-run distillery and remains one of the big names in Scotland not under a larger corporate umbrella. Because of this, they can do things differently. In particular, Glenfarclas apparently believes we are still in the year 2005 and still prices its whiskies as such. But hey, who am I to complain with such an incredible value for a 25 Year sherried malt?
Age: 25 Years
ABV: 43%
Cask: Oloroso sherry Casks
MSRP: $160
Distillery Name: Glenfarclas
Review Date: 12/6/20
Color: Toasted Caramel
Nose: The sherry influence comes through immediately. Sweet, nutty, and full of dark fruits. Tart cake, sweet cream, and luscious fruit pastry filling. As it sits in the glass, more of the woody notes come through. A musty, old warehouse full of wood, tobacco and leather. This is a fantastic nose that is a great lead up to the palate.
Palate: The sherry again is the star of the show at first, but then subsides into a big fruit, with some acidic qualities. While the sherry is strong, its spread well across the palate. Cream and raspberries, tart fruit, with some custard coming through. Then it moves to sundried fruits, with a nuttier quality. Below the sweetness is the same moody qualities as the nose with lots of old wood, baking spices, and leather creating great complexity for this whisky. The casks have imparted some great flavors over 25 years. This is a medium bodied whisky with good viscosity and a great chewy quality. is a fantastic and complex ride of flavors
Finish: Long and lingering finish that punches way above its ABV. The oak makes it strongest appearance here coming off very dry and quite bitter. Lots more wood and tobacco mixed with dark cocoa. Less of the sweet fruits of the nose and palate.
Final Thoughts: This is an excellent whisky. It has great depth and complexity, while also remaining relatively approachable. This is also an incredible value for a 25 year whisky (and sherried for that matter!). Is this my favorite Scotch ever? Definitely not. But it is great, and I am happy I grabbed a bottle. I won’t be in a hurry to replace only because the entire Glenfarclas line has so much to offer and I plan to explore it more. I haven’t a clue how this family run distillery can pull this off at such a great price. But I hope they continue to churn out great work like this for decades to come.
