TWE Exclusive

Glenfarclas
15 Year Old
103° Proof

70cl | 58.6%

In November 2013, we chose Glenfarclas 15 Year Old as our Whisky of the Year. In honour of this, we spoke to Glenfarclas about creating a Whisky Exchange exclusive edition. We decided on a different approach to the classic 15 Year Old:

our exclusive edition is bottled at cask strength – 58.6% abv (103° proof in old money).

£80.65 Web Exclusive Price

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Customer Rating

4.5 (11 Reviews)

Style

Character

Tasting Notes

Nose:
An explosion in a spice factory. A swathe of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, followed by boozy sultanas and hot-cross-bun dough, then a clean note of barley and honeyed fruit.

Palate:
If you're feeling brave, you can try this neat, but a drop of water would be sensible – do so, and you're rewarded with rich, spicy fruit cake, balanced by earthy liquorice and a backbone of classy oak.

Finish:
The boozy fruit and rich spices fight it out.

Nose:
Intense, with sherry-soaked raisins, Madeira cake, sweet nutmeg spice, orange peel and a hint of butterscotch all present.

Palate:
Big, bold, warming and spicy, with a rich Moscatel-sherry-like texture. Spicy notes of liquorice, clove and oak intermingle with dates, prunes and a hint of sweet honey.

Finish:
Long and intense, with the clove lingering.

11 Customer Reviews

4
Massimo Raccosta 6 days ago

It's a perfect whisky, astonishing, rich taste. Congrats for this great single malt. For me the best ever!
4
Mikko 27 December 2016

Maybe the most challenging single malt I have ever encountered. I dont mean a bad way: this is basicly sulfur free. This one should be decanted at least 3-4 times and it takes lot of water. I added couple of tea spoon of water to 4 cl and let it rest at least 30 min. This a herbal style sherried Glenfarclas, a very unusual speysider in any terms. Not the best Glenfarclas I have had, but surely the most interesting one...
4
Shawn 23 September 2016

A nice whisky. I prefer this by a hair over the standard 17yo. They're similar, but the 15 cask strength is more immediate and exciting. It reminds you that it's 100 proof whisky without being offensive about it.
5
Dor 11 November 2015

Very very good, a sherry monster at its best, sweet and fruity yet balance is achieved! an this comes from an islay peat-head
3
M. Helminen 8 March 2015

I didn''t find this one that much better than the regular 15. It was quite good and had no flaws but somehow I doubt I''ll be buying a second bottle now that the first is almost gone.
5
Fiona Donnelly 4 March 2015

What an amazing whisky for this price. Great balance between the Oak and the mature spirit. Classic Glenfarclas flavours with that little bit extra. This is what Cask Strength should taste like. A must Try..... Well done Whisky Exchange and Glenfarclas. Should try this on the 21yr old.
5
Matt Glazier -London 4 February 2015

This is perfect whisky- especially in cold winter weather like this- a balance of lush fruits and dry oak- what a nose too.. so much going on, light and balanced on the tongue with long and crisp ginger finish- fabulous
5
JB 4 December 2014

Balanced sherry, baking spices and coffee cake - fantastic stuff. Drink neat (little boozy) or takes a drop of water well.
5
tenortelfer 3 December 2014

Glenfarclas use peated malt sometimes,it''s definitely there. Try it next to something like Auchentoshan,you will notice the difference.
4
Misty 3 December 2014

Mmm this is really nice. Spicy sweetness is the key words here. Heavily sherried, but not in a heavy unctuous way. It''s a lighter body sherry, very spicy style. Beautifully rich fruit cake that someone has doubled up the spices. Nice touch of bergamot tea in the finish. Go get some! Absolutely no peat that I can detect. Billy''s A''s review is pretty bang on.
5
tenortelfer 30 November 2014

This is a little different from the standard 15. Slightly less sherry influence,but loads of honey,citrus and nutty notes. The tasting notes state no peat,but I definitely get a little,which helps to round of the dram beautifully. It also benefits from a little dash of water!

History

Glenfarclas has the distinction of being one of the oldest family-owned distilleries in Scotland. The distillery was bought by John and George Grant back in 1865 and to this day, their descendants still run it. Another John and George Grant, father and son, are now the fifth and sixth generations to lead the team. With the distillery owned by the same family, they can more easily look to the future.

A strong focus on tradition allied with a fresh look from each generation allows the distillery to adapt to the times, while still producing some of Speyside's finest Scotch whisky, combining traditional techniques with modern technology.

The Stills

Bucking the trend across Scotland, the Glenfarclas team still directly fire their stills, which creates a rich and heavy spirit that is well suited to long ageing. This is not without cost, because using gas flame rather than more modern steam coils slowly burns away the copper of the pot stills, which leads to more frequent repairs and replacement. However, this close attention to detail really shows itself in the character of the spirit, and is easily enough to justify the extra expense.

The Warehouse

The casks are all stored at the distillery, with Glenfarclas's traditional dunnage-style warehouses the perfect place to age single malt Scotch whisky. With earthen floors and even temperatures, the casks are left to slowly mature and pick up the distillery's characteristic flavours. Rich, sweet and heavy – the trademarks of long-aged sherry-cask whisky – as well as lighter and fruitier spirit both run through their range, giving Glenfarclas the ability to tailor make each expression to show off different elements of the distillery's character.