Sweet banana pudding with dried apricots, white currant, apple jam and wet wood.

RATING: 86pts - [n21,t21,f22,b22] → |86-89: Remarkable|

The marketing doesn’t lie… it really is beautifully balanced. On the nose, the interplay between cask and distillate, sherry and whisky is very much to my liking. It’s light, sweet, fruity, woody but not overtly so. There’s your usual sherry notes - raisins, sweet white grapes, fudge, walnuts, hint of raspberry. The nose also has a solventy edge from the spirit which I enjoy a lot. The oak is elegant and well integrated. There’s also an aromatic top note that gives the nose lift and brightness - I’d say a mixture citrus oils, with bergamot being dominant for me, with a hint of something like lemon balm or mint. Highly enjoyable!

On the palate, the arrival is dominated by sweet and juicy sherry, with raisins, nuts and again citrus (orange). Then I get hit with a blast of spices from the cask, some black pepper. Sadly, the finish is where this whisky lets us down - it’s pretty nothingy. After the spices, we get some remnants of raisins and dates but mostly just a general alcohol sensation with not a lot of flavour. Reminds me of most Diageo standard releases.

Glenfarclas show some serious mastery here with the balance of the whisky - too bad the overall experience is let down by them cutting some corners on quality, resulting in this whisky ultimately feeling quite ‘mass-produced’.

I shall pour the dregs of a bottle of Glen Scotia 15 into this Glenfarclas to give it a bit more body.

Nose:
-Caramel,Raisins,Toffee,Earthy,Spices,Oak,Chocolate,Red Apple,Plum jam

Taste:
-strong Arrival
-Spices,Oak,Caramel,Sherry,Chocolate

Finish:
-bitter & spicy
-short with medium-strong Alcohol Presence

O:
Very good in it's Age class at a really good Price.

Thin, fruitiness as diluted, gammelig - almost a chewy prickling on the tongue - like foul fruit. Bitter notes. almost not drinkable