[February, 2020] Another new Family Cask that is very dark and highly scored - it seems as if any dark colour is very attractive to many drinkers these days but is it an excellent sherry maturation too? You cannot judge this by looking at the colour...

...but you can nose and taste it, and this is an excellent modern old-style sherry maturation, indeed! Yes, it is heavy sherry stuff but the 'farclas malt still manages to contribute its fine flavours to this dram. Actually, this is on eye-level with many of the great sherry drams of the past. Very, very quaffable stuff and one of the loveliest (sherry) monsters I had for years. Well done, Glenfarclas! ...and could you please stop releasing sulphur-spoiled casks in the name of The Family like the 1998 vintage of Winter 2019?

[January, 2021] I re-tasted this dram during the NFL play-off match of the LA Rams vs. the Seattle Seahawks and this dram is as interesting and exciting as the match is. This is an excellent old-school sherry maturation (the cask was seasoned with old, matured sherry wine for sure) and I pray that the game will be decided soon - otherwise I will get very drunk tonight. But there are nights when this is just okay, and "Tonight's the Night" (remember Neil Young?). By the way, I fully confirm my old review and score...

Comment: Glenfarclas 2002, Cask 3318, 16 years old, first fill Sherry Hogshead, 54.2% and only 310 bottles. An absolute treat! He even tops his brothers from the Winter 2017 Release (Cask 3770) and Winter 2018 (Cask 3773) and goes one better. The nose is the absolute highlight, the taste is wonderfully balanced and harmonious. No bad notes, no sulfur. An absolutely perfect drinking strength of 54.2%, which does not take the palate and tongue as hard as in the earlier 2002s, a wonderfully delicate oak note that blends perfectly with the sweet sherry flavors - what more could you want. It just doesn't get any better. Here the guys from Glenfarclas did a great job and bottled the barrel at the perfect time. For me the best 15 year old whisky I've ever had in a glass. Cask 3773 was a real hit, but I like this one a bit better thanks to its balance and wonderful nosing. It combines everything that a "perfect" whisky of this type must have: sherry flavors, fine oak notes and malt-cereal nuances that, despite the first fill sherry Hoghshead, are not overwhelmed by the sherry and still give the distillery character its full advantage. So I give it a strong 93 points. Slaintè!

It's a challenge - a Glenfarclas one...

THE BENCHMARK: Vintage 1998 cask 3587 N: 94 T:94 F: 95 absolutely beautiful, butteric in the nose and a charming sherry - refill like

Vintage 1998 cask 4449 N:78 T:70 F:60 the more air it takes, the more sulphur comes out. It was around 86 points when pured now it sits at 78 - nosewise - and this is generous. Man, it's dirty stuff. It gets worse in comparisons to ist comrades. Stand alone the score might be better but in comparison it just loses. I just have this one chance to taste, sorry cask 4449 - too many 4s in the number, that's bad luck in Asia... and here in the glas as well. And I had high hopes riding on the 4th fill cask.

Vintage 2000, cask 6285, N:91 T:91 F:91 nutty oloroso at the right intensity and quite sweet, fantastic complexity, maybe with a very slight touch of flintiness on the tongue/finish

Vintage 2001, cask 2170, N: 91, T:90, F:89 strong oloroso sherry and spiciness but with a certain sherry note that is sour, quite bitter in the finish

Vintage 2002, cask 3318, N:91, T:91, F:90 a bit too intense (hm, is this really a complaint?), slightly bitter in the finish and quite spicy (wood)

Vintage 2004, cask 2383, N:92, T:92, F:92, sherry & spice at a high level, approx 15 years taste like 20. Smooth from nose to finish, the winner of this challenge, though it can't beat the benchmark 1998 cask #3587.

I tried the Sherry Hogsheads (W2019), i.e. 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2002 in parallel, and actually assumed that the 2001 tasted best because I thought the last 2001 Hogsheads were all great. By the way, the 2001 is also the darkest. Now the 2001 is great too, but to my big surprise I like the 2002 even better because it is smoother. Thicker, more intense, sweeter, more syrupy, and more pleasant (or should I say "even more pleasant") in the mouth. You could chew on it for hours. No burning, no stinging - nothing! Perfectly bottled.
In the end, however, both are very similar (i.e. 01 and 02), same profiles, with the difference that the younger one is even more pleasing.
Very cool stuff, and at the age of 16 (I mean the whisky;).

Don't need water.

Fantastic bottling!

A really great drop, the best is the flavor profile in the mouth. Very complex but always very balanced. Sweet with lots of sherry and plums. We recommend.