Glenfarclas 15 Year Old

The Glenfarclas distillery has been a more or less ‘family-owned’ enterprise for well over a century. The distillery is well recognized for a broad and approachable range of malt whiskies, including the cask-strength ‘105’ and an awfully well-priced 40 year-old expression. The Glenfarclas 15, in particular, is something of a storied dram amongst the membership of the Connosr community. To many, it seems especially reminiscent of Christmas cakes and puddings but—being of Jewish ancestry and having had no Christmas tradition permeate my atheist-buttressed childhood—I know little of such treats. Thus, I provide a more ‘secular’ review of this whisky.

The nose is predominantly malt, burnt salt caramels, and fiery red pepper jelly. There are hints of coffee, chocolate, and tobacco smoke. Though rich and heady, there is an herbal, almost eucalyptus, undercurrent to it.

The palate is rich, malty, and sweet, with slightly over-cooked caramel, spicy chillies, and cherry licorice. There are notes of coffee, ginger, and crème brulée, and a decadently bitter finish of chocolate orange.

Initially, I found the Glenfarclas 15 overly ‘hot’ on the nose and bracing on the palate. A switch of glassware to a sherry copita, however, seems to have tamed this whisky somewhat, and it has since grown on me. For those in search of a dessert malt.

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