Glenfarclas 25 Year

I put this head to head against a Glendronach, Macallan and Benriach 12 in a tasting session I ran and it came out on top...just. Upon opening it had a lovely viscosity and mild sherry flavour profile. It's def not the sherry bomb profile I love and after a few months open it's definitely faded and got more bitter. Despite the fact it's cheap for a 25 year I'd much prefer a dram of Glendronach 15 Revival, 18 or 21 over this or even the Benromach 10 or Oban 14 I just had along side this and at $130USD I think I'm rating this down to a 3

N: old straw F: bitter

Bourbon, vanilla and Fruit notes.

This Speyside single malt comes in at 43% ABV, is non chill filtered and a natural color of amber honey. The nose is bursting with wonderful mixed nuts. Walnuts, Brazil nuts, and maybe some almonds. Dates and raisins with some lightly sherried dried fruits. Sherried oak and honey. I took my time nosing this whisky, about an hour before I finished. After about 30 minutes I got a big blast of cinnamon on a deep inhale. About 15 minutes after that a nice note of fresh coffee showed up but quickly vanished. Once that was gone I got a brief note of sandalwood incense. Truly a beautiful nosing whisky if you have the patience to allow it to develop. If I could create a cologne that smelled like this I would wear it every day. There is a surprisingly spicy arrival on the palate. Just the right amount of spice to be really enjoyable and not overpowering. Nuts, sherry, cinnamon and oak. Full bodied and intense. The tasting notes claim it is smoky, but I did not get any smoke. Some very light smoke would have been nice though. The mouthfeel is lightly oily at first but becomes quite dry. The finish is medium long to long, very dry with nuts and bitter dark chocolate. The finish was a little too bitter for my liking and really ended things on a down note. It took away from the great experience up until that point. Overall I really loved this single malt, despite the bitter finish. Very mature and refined. Glenfarclas is a great family owned and independent distillery. They spend very little on marketing and can keep costs down. I paid $160 for this 750ml bottle. That's pretty damn good for a 25 YO. I would have easily given this a 4.75 for its fabulous nose and great palate and value, but the finish really hurt the score and I decided to give it a 4.25. If you have the means, buy a bottle. I look forward to trying more from the Glenfarclas range in the future. Cheers

2017/2/6 codename mixology tokyo 2,000yen