1980s Glenfarclas 10 YO 5cl

Glenfarclas 10 yo (40%, OB, late 1980s) 

Colour: Amber.

Nose: A stodgy, leathery and leafy sherry that’s full of old cigars, walnuts, sultanas, dates and other assorted dark fruits. Wee hints of mint tea, ginger cake, hessian, nougat, dried flowers and bouquet garni simmering in stock. You could also add some fragrant citrus oils, light soy sauce and quite a bit of earthen wine cellar floor. Really quite surprisingly complex.

Mouth: Mushrooms, leather, tobacco, raisins, a single violet, mixed dried herbs, verbena, yellow flowers, cola cubes. Quite a beautiful and elegant wee sherry profile. And surprisingly weighty for 40%. Hints of madeira cake, lemon peel and wormwood. After a while there’s coconut milk as well.

Finish: Nicely peppery and earthy, some deeper earthy tones and a hint of sootiness and wax. Lovely richness of chocolate biscuits in the aftertaste.

Comments: There’s a richness and a silky elegance to the sherry that is absent from most sherry cask whiskies these days.