Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength

Oh, Glenfarclas. I’ve kind of always looked down my nose at you. You offer up name brand, department store quality at Walmart prices. You are the dollar menu whisky. I’ve tried multiple ages of official distillery bottled Glenfarclas: the 12 year old all the way to the 25. I believe I’ve had unspecified, independent bottles of even older stock. My previous reviews have been borderline unfair, as I bash away because I haven’t experienced anything earth shaking. It’s almost always just solid, sherry cask single malts. I’m sorry for that unjust oversight. This bottle of Glenfarclas 105, no it’s not 105 year old whisky, is the cask strength offering that’s bottled at 60% ABV. It’s light copper and gold in the tasting glass and produces very thin and sparse legs when you give it a whirl. A nice, slick oily appearance and tiny beads around the rim indicate it’s of very high proof. The fact you can get a 1L bottle of this for around $30 is astounding. The nose is immediately as harsh as you’d expect. Heat from the ABV and cinnamon lead the charge, but if you let it rest, and maybe add an ice cube or a few drops of water, you are rewarded with tea leaves and toffee. Flambé fruits seem to sizzle your nostrils just as you move in for a sip. The palate reveals semi-complex sherry notes: grapes, orchard fruit and barley. The oak adds some astringency while the super hot mouthfeel turns slightly oily and leaves some over-ripened berries heading into the finish. It’s a long and abrasively hot finish, too. Lingering oak and a satisfying grape and vanilla note help cool the burn provided you don’t find yourself chasing them away with some water. Overall, this is my favorite Glenfarclas to date. I think the cask strength keeps you on your toes long enough that you end up really appreciating the sherry flavors that eventually come home to roost. Factor in price and this is a big time win. I’ve worked on this bottle for a month or so now and I’ve even slid it over into my blending experiments simply because the high proof and pleasant sherry helps make a wonderful foundation to any blended whisky you can dream up and the ABV helps keep your total alcohol percentages above board. I will be replacing this bottle every time it goes dry. 4-4.25 stars for ticking all the right boxes. Cheers, my friends.

A little bit of an edge but a lot of flavor

Sherry bomb on the nose and palate, sweet caramel and nice spice, smooth spice finish. Lovely.

Nice bang for the buck Shoots you to the space while being a good sippin whiskey