A wonderfully sherried 15 year old dram from Glenfarclas, boasting oodles of dried fruit notes. It’s bottled at 46% ABV simply because this was the strength that George Grant’s grandfather preferred it at. Happily, this also results in the Speysider boasting a big, juicy, Christmas cake profile. A fabulously complex Scotch while also being easily drinkable.
Intense, powerful sherry. Cream sherry, certainly – Pedro Ximenez? almost… a touch of peppermint? An almost rancio quality to this. Smells older than 15.
Raisins, more sherry, orange peel, walnuts, dates.
Incredibly long, complex, more of the walnuts again.
Water draws out sweetness. This is Christmas cake, not whisky. Simply astonishing.
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Disappointment at start but after initial opening and breathing in the bottle for three months now when 4/5 of the bottle is left, this is finally opening up and turns up as a unique single malt. Complex christmas spices are there, combining nicely with little bit of sweetness but with same price you can get Deanston 9 Year Old 2008, which has some what similar flavor profile but is superior in terms of value for the money. Glenfarclas 15 yo is a fine single malt in itself, but i expect more from 15 yo single malt and that's why 3 stars from me.
This is a great dram if you like sherry. Christmas cake, gluhwein and strong, yet sweet sherry. Better than Macallan 12 or Glendronach 12. On level with Bunna 12.
Simplistic and overwhelming alcohol taste for me, which is strange since I really enjoy Glenfiddich 15.
I can't say much about the current releases, but I picked up an older bottling (pre-2009 SWR labelling, reading "Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky" rather than having "Highland" listed first -- so this was likely distilled and put into casks back in the '90s at the latest) and it is absolutely terrific. Plush, rich, and sherried whisky -- lots of caramelized sugars and fruit on the nose, with candied raisins and sherry on the palate. It's a sweet-leaning dram, obviously, but so beautifully balanced that it just works. 46% is a nice ABV to work with, and a few drops of water (and a few minutes in the glass) open up this rich whisky very nicely. I often think that 15 years is, for many Scotch whiskies, really the sweet spot of age. In a number of labels, I prefer their 15 over both the 12 and 18, and here, that's also the case. The Glenfarclas 12 is very nice, but the 15 is just sublime, and I definitely prefer it over the 18. I will need to try some of the more contemporary bottlings to compare, but this old bottle picked up is a real gem. Obscenely easy to drink.
In these days buying a sherried single malt is like playing russian roulette. Glenfarclas 15 yo is really great malt when it's not sulfured. Unfortunately, nowadays demand is so high and sulfured sherry casks so common, that even highly respected distilleries like Glenfarclas can't make it anymore. Only thing you can do is taste the batch first or buy "bullet proof" single cask sherry malt.
