Glenfarclas 1966 47 Year Old Fino Sherrry Cask

Tasting Notes by Billy A

• Nose

  Almonds, vanilla toffee and honeysuckle to start, almost like a young and sweet bourbon-cask dram. Darker flavours then start to make themselves known, with nutmeg, cinder toffee and milk chocolate. Nutty and yeasty notes develop, along with citrus oil and dry toast. Sweetness builds as it sits in the glass, with maple syrup, subtle nail varnish, toffee, sweet grape skin and white pepper.

• Palate

  Sharper and fresher than expected from the comparatively soft and gentle nose, with old oak, leafy ferns and barrel char balanced by peach, ripe pear, boiled sweets, citrusy honey and lemon zest. More depth of flavour comes from dark liquorice and sweet woody spice.

• Finish

  Old oak, sharp woody spice, nutmeg and sweet butter. It hangs around for a while, with toffee and zesty citrus notes lingering.

• Comment

  Further demonstration that guessing what a whisky will taste like simply from the previous occupant of a cask is hard. There is some fino-sherry character to the whisky, but it's run through with honey, toffee and fruit, with a sweetness not often found in a dry sherry. Fortunately, the wine left lots of character in the wood, which we can now taste in the whisky.