Glenfarclas Distillery
Glenfarclas is synonymous with high-quality Highland single malt in the style of traditional Speyside – with a slight twist of being matured in former sherry casks. For the trained palate Glenfarclas single malts offer a nuanced portfolio with rich, quality-booming whiskies covering a full age range. Palates new to sherried single malts will have a great introduction, whilst experienced palates will be much satisfied by the Glenfarclas expressions.
The distillery has continuously been in the hands of the Grant-family since its establishment in 1865, and currently, the fifth and sixth generation is at the tiller. Only a few Scottish distilleries have remained family-owned, and the descendants of John Grant have made sure to keep Glenfarclas as such. ‘The descendant in charge’ is George Grant, and while staying true to old-fashioned traditions George Grant and his team have also made sure to keep the distillery in constant development by for example tweaking flavor profiles, little by little.
The distillery is known for its vintage releases and their dedicated focus on the ancestral history running through the distillery’s veins. As such, the Glenfarclas collection can be divided into two range:
- The Aged Range
- The Family Cask Range
And outside of these ranges is the Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength.
Glenfarclas is considered a big part in pioneering cask strength bottling, and this expression is bottled at 60 % vol., and it encompasses all of the Glenfarclas-flavors. The whisky’s incredibly smooth finish helps ‘digest’ the high strength, and with the fruity, oaky nose and a dry, spicy flavour profile with sherried fruits and a bit of oak as base notes the 105 Cask Strength offers an enjoyable experience.
Since 1973 Glenfarclas has welcomed visitors to the site, and with their tours, they offer a look into not only the distillery and production – but also into their family history.
The Johns and the Georges
The Glenfarclas distillery was originally established in 1836 (as it states on the bottles), however, John Grant acquired the land for nearly £512 in 1865. In today’s money that’s equivalent to just under £64,000.
From the first to the sixth and current generation the Grants of Glenfarclas have been devoted to honoring the traditional Speyside style and to creating the best single malt the Highland has to offer.
Throughout time Johns and Georges have put their mark on Glenfarclas.
The original John Grant was, in fact, a cattle farmer with a farm in Glenlivet, and the Glenfarclas was conveniently halfway between his farm and the cattle market in Elgin. Because of John Grant’s focus on farming, he initially outsourced the distillery by letting it to John Smith, although he intended that his son, George, was to take the reins in 1889. Unfortunately, George died, and it was instead Elsie, his widow, who took over – she passed the business onto her sons John and George.
Today a fifth-generation John and a sixth-generation George co-runs the business. John L.S. Grant is chairman, while his son George functions as the brand ambassador, and they’re both personally involved with the business’ production and development – John travels to Spain and handpicks the very best Spanish oak casks from the vendor.
Time-honoured quality
Glenfarclas is nestled at the foot of Ben Rinnes, and the melting snow from on the heather-covered slopes provides crystal clear spring water. It’s of course here the distillery has its water supply, which is assuredly a vital part of the single malts’ quality.
Every year Glenfarclas sells more than 700,000 bottles. About 68,000 Oloroso casks house the sherried expressions, and six stills are used to distill the single malts. Ancestors of the stills were used back in 1836, and so with every single drop, the alembics distill a bit of history. They still are directly fired and used twice for each distillation, which might be an old method, but the method is used not only to honor the family history entangled with the distillery but also to create time-honored quality.
The Oloroso casks from Jerez are stored in around 32 warehouses, all of them handpicked and burnt, and they deliver a delicious vanilla undertone, and the burnt casks also soften the whisky. What is perhaps quite unusual for most whisky distillers Glenfarclas insist on avoiding finishing the maturing whisky by moving it from one cask to another. It’s only when each cask has been judged ready to bottle that the casks are combined.
Even the warehouses are a certain style and at certain locations to ensure the very best quality, as these factors are deemed integral in determining the unique Glenfarclas character.
Single malt with heritage
It’s naturally dangerous territory to claim Glenfarclas is characterized by its inherited methods and flavor profiles, as it infers the distillery is without innovation. And that’s not true.
However, the Glenfarclas Distillery is overtly proud of its history – and of being able one of the only family-owned, independent distilleries left in Scotland. With the Family Cask Range, Glenfarclas presents limited edition single cask and vintage single malts – this was all with the foresight of the fourth generation owner, George S. Grant, who began setting casks aside especially for a future bottling. The range was launched in 2007, and since then about 43 single cask and vintage single malt have hit the market, collectively covering five decades of whisky production.
Each release tells its own unique story, but the range’s purpose is to encapsulate the distillery’s essential character. Quite naturally the range releases limited bottles of the expressions, as there’s only so much aged and stored whisky from each year. However, the 1979 vintage has proven rather popular, and it’s been reissued more than two dozen times.
The Aged Range features seven expressions ranging from 10 to 40 years. Glenfarclas 10-Year-Old Whisky is an award-winning vibrant single malt, and despite its comparatively young age, it possesses significant depth and finishes. Its profile is spicy and delicate, and it elegantly combines sherry sweetness with malt.
In another vein, Glenfarclas 40 Year Old offers taste notes of caramel and chocolate with sherry and raisins hitting the back of the mouth. Its finish is lingering with distinct dryness, sweetness as well as crispiness.
So there’s something for every palate, and every collector or connoisseur would assuredly find something extraordinary to delve into. The Aged Range offers a great variety of ages and flavor profiles, and The Family Cask Range offers a bit of history with rare expressions unique not only in the palate but also unique to the time they were casked