Glenfarclas Distillery post-tour tasting, 3rd May 2024, whisky #5 Nose: Fortified wine, raisins, dark chocolate, Turkish delight, nutmeg. There is a note of sulphur but it was not disagreeable. Palate: Caramel fondant, marzipan, plums and sultanas in the arrival. Stone fruits, malt extract, stewed dark fruit, sweet black cherries, preserved orange peel, ginger in syrup, pineapple chunks. The texture is rich and beyond creamy, it almost approaches the mouth-feel of a liqueur. Finish: Medium. Wine, malt and preserved fruits. This expression was a special release, distillery-only, single-cask bottling and although the distillery’s signature character is recognizable it was different to any other Glenfarclas I have tasted. Overall it was softer, more velvety in texture and had a much sweeter profile, particularly on the finish. There was a trace of sulphur on both nose and palate but it was benign and agreeable (in the same way that Springbank fermentation sulphur is agreeable). It was distilled in 1997 and filled into a refill Madeira pipe (distillery cask #181), and disgorged on 19th February 2021 at an abv of 50.7%. The bottle from which we tasted did not state the number of bottles, but I believe it was 653 (more about that below). Glenfarclas does not generally use anything other than sherry casks, and they never finish whiskies (as far as I can recall) so a full-term Madeira pipe maturation is remarkable for them. The tour guide did show us some other non-sherry casks in the dunnage we visited, but apparently the whisky from these is seldom sold. I could not find any information about this expression online, but there is a bottle on Whiskybase that has a different label (1997 Family Reserve II Madeira Cask) but is identical in all other respects including the cask number. It states “1 of 653 bottles” so I’m assuming that the whisky I tasted was part of the same batch, but labeled differently for UK sale. It was very interesting to taste but none was available for purchase. “Very Good” : 86/100 (4 stars)