So recently I had some new bottles I split with a friend (big thanks to him for the half bottle of this!) and I'd say that this whisky was definitely the big one that I wanted to have at least part of a bottle of. I'm a big fan of what Glenfarclas is, they're a family owned independent scotch distillery that have been cranking out some beautiful sherried whiskies over the decades and I can only imagine that this dram will definitely be one of the best I'll have tried yet from this distillery.
It's been 50 years since Glenfarclas first released their 105 Imperial Proof cask strength single malt so to celebrate the distillery decided to do another age stated release of the 105, this time at a nicely mature 22 years of age. Only 3600 bottles were made of this whisky, with only 200 being put up for sale in Canada, so after having reviewed the 20 year old 105 release last year I'm very excited to own a half bottle of this and am very interested to see how this one compares in my notes to that one.
Christmas may have passed, so hopefully this one toasts the coming end to this long icy winter! Let's begin!
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Age: 22 Years
Region: Speyside
Cask Type(s): Sherry Casks
ABV: 60%
No. of Bottles: 3600
Maturation Time: Not Available
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- Color: Amber
- Nose: Creamy vanilla, sweet cherries, raspberries and plums, cocoa, caramel, allspice, toasted oak, raisins, orange, lemon, apple, melon, a really nice old school sherry nose
- Taste: Orange marmalade, apple jam, pear, lemon, cherry, salty plum, marzipan, raspberry, sultana, baking spices, baked bread and roasted treenuts
- Finish: Long with cream, sherryfruits, coconut cream and powdered cocoa
Now this is what I call a dessert dram! Going back to my old notes it appears this is not as spicy and intense as the 20 year, and not as much of a pure sherrybomb either, but it’s a nicely composed dram with a lot of complexity and for 60% ABV it drinks amazingly. The nose is nice and pleasant with some good whiffs of baking spice and oak meshed into the red fruits, citrus and sweeter elements and the palate is an overload of fruit marmalades and jams, buttery and toasted nuts as well as some light touches of oak and spice. To me it's almost as good as the 20 year 105 and for less than half the price of the 20 year 105 (or at least until this hits the secondary market), it's a darn good sherried Speyside and is a great new addition to the age stated 105 limited editions of Glenfarclas! While I wish there was a tad more richness on the mouthfeel it's still a very solid sherried cask strength Glenfarclas and it's absolutely worth a try and buy.
