Glenfarclas 12 Year

wonderful whisky, smooth, sweet, balanced,

Nose: apple, a little honey, dried fruit/raisins, spice. Taste: sweet, spicy, woody. With a little water and time the spice goes down and you get dried cherries, vanilla caramel, wood and a hint of smoke.

Deep sherried whiskies, to me, take some time to understand and appreciate. Similar, in essence, to adapting and appreciating a good, peated whisky. I recall having tasting a Macallan the first time and I was not in tune to the experience: the deeply rooted sherried flavor and the impression was one of a mediocre whisky. But time changes our perceptions as our wisdom and knowledge increases. Where am I going with this? Now having more appreciation for sherried whiskies, I was looking forward to tasting this Glenfarclas; this being my first. I was eager to compare to the baseline Macallan. Raisins and lightly toasted bread (a similar aroma to Raisin Bran) are initially met. The obvious sherry notes are joined with a nuttiness and spicy nutmeg. Toffee sweetness overtones the fruity orange peel and apple notes. Honey and vanilla are sprinkled in between. A touch or char hidden in the depths is drawn out over time. Be patient! Arrives gently, soft and sweet. Brown sugar, vanilla, prunes, allspice and cloves compose the palate all balanced. Near the fade to the finish, with some time on the palate, the sweet tea with honey flavors work their way and deliver the finish. The finish is medium in length and exposes flavors not smelled nor tasted on the palate. Slightly ginger and tannic, yet revealing a brown sugar sweetness and cinnamon spiciness. The final fade brings a nice unique flavor for Welch’s Grape Jelly/Jam or an almost and artificial grape flavor, like grape soda, and ultimately, exiting with toasted coconut. The thought that kept coming to my mind with this experience is ‘Seamless’ The transition from aroma to arrival to delivery and finish are greeted and finished in one fluid progression with little obvious abruption. Soft and creamy and slightly warming. A definite slow sipper that only improves over time, and in that time, you are rewarded. As a comparative, I found this to be slightly more enjoyable than Macallan 12. A well-crafted and thoroughly enjoyable sherried whisky. Complex yet approachable. A quiet gem! [Dry Glass: Heath candy bar][$56][87/100][Tasted: 9/15/17].