Rating: 12/23 I've heard great things about this young whisky and I've like older Farclas offerings, but I didn't like the 12 because of its youth and I hear that due to global warming this is now closer to 10 years old. Let's see how it is. N: It's malty with a sweet sherry presence and a lot of vegetal funk, suggesting that there are a lot of tails in this. There's a light floral note with a dash of tart citrus along side a bit of bitterness that could be the excess heads coming through. There's also a dash of some meatiness that suggests alcohol, but it goes away after a few minutes (well, more like 15 minutes). After that, I can smell some alcohol, but it doesn't smell bad and some certainly is to be expected when ABV reaches 60%. I get dark dried fruits from the sherry: raisins, prunes, sultanas (OK, maybe that one isn't dark), bing cherries. Maybe a hint of orange zest. It has a richer, fuller nose than Cambus 27 does. If I get any sulfur here, it's quite faint. There's nothing here announcing this as a bottom shelf scotch (i.e. sulfur), but it smells brash and it may be harsh. It seems like it is going to taste youthful in that the heads and tails still seem individually discernible, but it doesn't smell so young that they haven't been tamed to the point that the objectively ("objectively") bad flavors have been removed. Still, this does not smell like the rich, robust, smooth Farclas that I love. P: It's kind of light, but it has plentiful fruit in a way that isn't all that rich and is funky much like the 12. I'm not thrilled, but it's better than a lot of stuff I've tried lately. It's also quite harsh, unfortunately. I get lots of youthful alcohol and then the fruits are raisins, dates, and prunes, as well as a big mushroom funk that actually reminds me a bit of Corralejo Reposado. They aren't sickly sweet like confectioner's sugar or anything, but they taste unappealing and wrong. It isn't an awful profile, but I'm really note a fan. The bitterness really does come through, drawing attention to the alcohol. The fruit flavors are very nice, but are still on the light side and get drowned out by the alcohol, funk, and sort of mineral element. I do get an occasional dash of chocolate, but that alcohol harshness just doesn't abate. In comparison, Cambus 27, despite having a light flavor and more grain presence, has a more viscous character with its bitterness being a more mellow woodiness that ties into its tawny fruit flavors and its peppery prickliness helping to tame the harshness. While I thoroughly expect that if I aged this Farclas for another 17 years, it would be fantastically better than the Cambus, side-by-side, the Cambus clearly has a better palate. Coming back from the Cambus, I do like the increased sweetness and maltiness here. Those along with the fruit really help. The sort of lightness of the fruit and the particular flavors do remind me of Symbole National, which certainly isn't bad, but also isn't very impressive. Water tones down the harshness, but it's still there and the profile doesn't improve. If anything, it further emphasizes how light the fruit flavors are in this watery alcohol mix. I'm sure I can make it a tad better with just the right amount of water, but I don't think this will be one of those cases like Amrut Cask Strength, where dropping its ABV just the right amount amplifies its complexity. F: The fruit remains a bit, along with that alcohol bitterness in spades mixed with a bit of wood and perhaps a hint of chocolate. The finish has some really nice flavors in it, but they aren't very strong, whereas the harshness certainly is. Between this and Cambus 27, I have to give the nod to Cambus. That said, this isn't that far below it and it costs a whole lot less. If I could find this for the same price again, I'd likely buy another bottle because it is such and interestingly brash whisky. I would give it a lot of time to breath after pouring though because there is a lot of alcohol presence in this. I have to give the Glenfarclas 105 a slight nod over the Highland Queen Majesty Sauternes and Sir Edward's 12 as well due to its complexity and interesting flavors. It tastes to me like Glenfarclas makes one blend of heads, hearts, and tails that it uses for all of its barrels rather than toning down the heads and tails for the younger offerings. I'm not sure whether this has improved the young products or not, but it has certainly made them more interesting. Considering everything together, I'm thinking of an 11 to 12 for this one, though I could imagine a 13. I think it's actually fairly close to Cambus in quality and I gave Cambus a 13, so I think this deserves a 12, but I can see dropping it to an 11, since it is also close to Sir Edward's and Highland Queen.