LeeEvolved
Glenfarclas 10 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
January 7, 2017 (edited August 5, 2017)
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
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Yeah, we got hammered with the snow here. I believe they were calling for 3-6" before the storm started and I was at work during the overnight hours and by 5-6am we only had a little over 2" and I thought we got lucky. Needless to say, from 6am to noon it was white-out, blizzard conditions. Anyway, I have only tried this 10 and the 21 year old. As I look back through my tasting notes I realized I had the 21 while I was bedside with my father during a hospital stay/open heart surgery and stuck in a rundown motel in Charleston, WV for 2 weeks when I drank through the bottle. Long story short, my head was elsewhere and I drank that bottle to calm my nerves rather than to appreciate good scotch. I clearly need to give it another chance before bashing everything GlenFarclas. Also, a friend is sending me a sample of the 25 year old in the next month or so, perhaps that will change my overall view of the GF. Sorry for being long-winded here. Cheers, guys.
The 10's a little pedestrian, for sure. Which is the other you've tried? If it's the 105, then I think you've sadly managed to try their two worst (in my opinion) standard bottlings. I've yet to try the 12 or 17, but the 15's got a lot more nuance than the young stuff, and their 20+ year bottlings set the standard for mature sherry-aged single malts. If you're ever in Scotland, they give a great tour, too - the distillery's still family run, so it's a much friendlier and open environment than some of the Diageo-run establishments. I don't envy you the snow; not sad it missed Chicago this time around.
You got 10-11 inches there?!? Wow...we here in central NJ got only 3. A bit of a let down, but maybe blessing in disguise personally as my snowblower decided this was the day to blow an engine
Have you tried their 21 yr old? It's pretty good, and great value for money.