Glenfarclas 10 Year

Well, I'm stuck inside after Snowpocalypse 2017 here in central Virginia. When I finally got home from work after digging out of 10-11 inches of fresh snow, I was I dire need of an attitude adjustment. Why not open the other half of my Christmas care package from my buddy, P-Mac. This is a young, Scottish single malt from Glenfarclas. It's the entry level 10 Year Old. Let's give it a run, shall we... The 'Farclas 10 is a Speysider that comes in at the standard 80 proof and is a beautiful, shiny gold in the taster. It's been breathing for about 10-15 minutes now and the initial nose is heavy spice cake with an underlying and tempered, but peppery oak. It seems pretty inviting. That first sip is cloyed honey. It really seems over the top and takes a minute before clearing up and washing away with a blast of cinnamon and peppered oak cask. There isn't much complexity, but then again it's a youthful whisky. It finishes kind of harsh (again, age is probably the key factor) and seems very predictable: sweet, then spicy. There's probably several who consider this in their wheelhouse, I'm just not one of them. It might sound unfair, and this is only my second GlenFarclas, but I don't really "get" this whisky (and maybe the distillery as a whole). They get outstanding reviews from a lot of websites and seasoned reviewers, I just can't seem to figure out why it doesn't work for me. Apologies to Paul, I hate to look like an ass and give a gift a poor rating, but I can't really get into this one. Hopefully, it will grow on me a bit as I drink through the bottle. 2.75 stars. Cheers, my friends

Sweet on the nose. A bit sharp without much burn. Maybe a bit spicy. (7yr cask 1805 from Drinks by the Dram)