Not to be confused with later releases, which rate lower

[November, 2015]  I had this dram during an "30+ years" tasting at Bonn.In my old rating system (ten scales that translate into WB points: 50
- 66 - 75 - 80 - 82,5 - 85 - 87,5 - 90 - 92,5 - 95) I scored it 92,5.  Unfortunately I took no detailed notes.

Aged sherry v bourbon H2H 40+ years of age.

This tasting started off with good intentions to compare sherry and bourbon casks of at least 40 years old to see which type came out on top.
Usually I would say I prefer 2nd fill sherry casks and then bourbon cask.
I alternated between sherry & bourbon but comparisons were too difficult so it became a regular tasting, so here are the scores for what it is worth anyway.

Tasted in this order

Single grains
Lochside 1964 48 year 41.2% cask 6799 sherry butt The Cooper’s Choice single
WB ID 72939 – 89/86/85
Invergordon 1973 44 year 51.5% East Village Whisky Company (assumed bourbon)
WB ID 12038 – 85/88/89

Single malts
Glenglassaugh 1968 45 year 44.3% sherry hoggy cask 1601 Rare Cask Release Batch 1 OB
WB ID 53761 - 84/85/86
Balblair 1969 43 year 41.4% bourbon 1st Release OB
WB ID 38018 – 89/90/89
Benriach 1975 40 year 53% sherry butt 7028 Batch 13 OB
WB ID 85894 – 92/94/93
Glenrothes 1970 41 year bourbon hoggy MoS 11026 Malts of Scotland
WB ID 28767 – 90/92/92
Glenfarclas 40 year 46% 2010 sherry cask OB
WB ID 15943 – 90/91/91
Longmorn 1968 41 year 60.5% bourbon cask 5274 G&M
WB ID 69219 – 90/92/91

It was an amazing experience. Whisky is very beautiful, soft, woody, but with gentle charakter. Any time i would apreciate this again.

Fruity, complex

A smorgasborg of fruit, heavy ripe fruits, blackcurrant, cherry, red licorice nibs, brown sugar, a weeeee bit 'o rum, bit 'o chocolate, green tea leaves. Moms fresh homemade bread, You know how some Islays fill the room with smokey aroma by merely opening a bottle? This does that but with fruity deliciousness. The legs are thick and take a wonderfully long time to run. Finish is long and the taste continues all the way through it, which is highly unusual for me. Water opens it up a bit but I prefer this one neat

N: Amazing fruit-oak complex with a little rancio and big fruity [sherry] vanillas.
T: Stupidly oaky. I really recommend adding water to aid the penetration of the fruit complex and vanilla bubblegum with blueberries, blackcurrant tinctures and the like. Either way, it's bitter bubblegum into the finish. Water brings added white sugars.
F: More bitter sweet tannins/oak, oak and more oak. Yet out of all that wood comes a zone only the oldies can go, with notes of blackberry juice bitters and magical fruit tinctures - unusually then for such an oldie, it’s actually the finish where many of the treasures lie. 
C: Is it me or is this way over-cooked, though there are no other flaws. i came across this before and didn’t struggle with the oak then [score:90 - see below], though this bottle has been open a while. Still, it’s rather good.

Scores a B [87]

This bottle was sold 450€ on The Whisky Auction Society(WAS) in March 2017.

View our review at http://www.whiskybros.com/#!Glenfarclas-40yo-2010/c21kp/5725ceb30cf26b6d6847cfa2

Tasting Note by The Chaps at Master of Malt



Nose:
Very complex and rich. Calves leather, cedar wood cigar boxes and cocoa
kicking things off. Then we’re onto waves of sweet sherry and chocolate
orange, marmalade and butterscotch. Hints of molasses develop and just a
whisper of pepper.
Palate:
About as rich and intense as anything we’ve ever tried from
Glenfarclas. The chocolate richness develops in the glass, with notes of
chocolate raisins, dates and figs, orange and maraschino cherry. Then
spices and thick espresso coffee.
Finish: Sublimely concentrated waves of mochaccino and gingerbread, with deep leathery notes clinging to the end.
Overall: We’re left speechless! It’s overwhelmingly good…

I've got another version:

1 02 1
3 23 07 BB

Aged for a minimum of 40 years, this single malt Scotch Whisky earned a score of 95 points from Whisky Advocate.

Gold Medal at the Malt Maniacs Awards 2010.

I've got another version:

11 02 1

22:58 88

Further tasting 26th January 2015.
 went back to this today to see if it was any different or my palate was playing tricks on me.
Sure enough this time I thought it was much better than when I first tried it.
Smoother, deeper profile and unlike before it was syrupy on the palate. I always rinse my palate before whisky but I have not had 2 differing tastings of any whisky like this one a week or so apart.
My palate must have been having an off night, I also refused to drink a HP 25 as that tasted rank also, but I usually love HP 25?
Anyway on this second tasting I understand all the glowing reviews, I thought it was lovely today.
 

Colour: Dark copper
Nose: Christmas cake, orange zest, chocolate, marzipan, cigar box, hints of cinnamon and a light whiff of smoke .
Palate: Prunes, dried figs, seville orange marmalade, 70% cocoa chocolate, marzipan, a mix of delicate oriental spices.
Finish: Long and fruity.
Overall: One the one hand this a typical old-fashioned and luxurious sherry whisky, but the flavours also bear some resemblances to aged bourbons. A fantastic dram with an almost incredible complexity at an unbeatable price for a 40 year old.

http://www.dramming.com/2011/05/17/glenfarclas-40-yo/

http://whiskycast.com/ratings/glenfarclas-40/

The true definition of a sherry bomb! The nose is vibrant with notes of figs, raisins, dark chocolate, brown sugar, and molasses. The taste is creamy and smooth with notes of figs, honey, lemon peel, and a hint of black tea. The finish is long, smooth, and warming.

N: after waiting for forty years, you must have the patience to wait a few more minutes, to fully enjoy the evolution of this sherry monster. At the beginning, in fact, there are very intense rubber notes which, after a little contact with the air, gradually disappear. We immediately perceive the great complexity: there are notes of liquor (of vermouth, type), there are herbaceous and spicy notes (rhubarb), red fruits (cherries, even in the spirit, more and more intense with time! citrus fruit, orange peel ...), but also a very deep pipe tobacco. In general, the image of a pie with berries is gradually becoming more and more defined, because an almost vanilla-like, crispy, crispy sweetness rises. Notes of damp wood, almost stale, but in the background. Mon cheri. Some mottling of nail and eucalyptus solvent. For now, it's beautiful deep: an infinite nose, which puts almost awe. After a while it becomes increasingly "deep" and almost smoky; beautiful chocolate. P: large bombs of cherry and spices (nutmeg). As expected, there is on one hand an impressive amount of red fruit (what a show!), Whose sweetness, on the other hand, is counterbalanced by that humid bitter wood. Notes of cigar smoke, of tobacco leaves: it is also a little pepatino. Bitter chocolate. Over time, the fruity sweetness explodes, literally, but the wood does not yield a millimeter: however not too bitter, but perfectly integrated, bringing back those notes of aromatic and almost mentholic herbs found on the nose. F: still hit the almost 'smoky' notes, just cigar, along with an impenitent persistence of cherry and red fruit. Bitter chocolate, wood, coffee and many greetings. Lovers of aging in sherry can hardly ask for more from their glass. Drinking this Glenfarclas, at times it feels a sort of awe, as well as the overall complexity of the liquid, precisely because of the weight of the years, for the work of time; after all you feel more alive and at peace with the world (which "has never stopped for a moment", sang Jimmy Fontana) with a dram by Glenfarclas 40 years in his hands. http://whiskyfacile.com/2012/09/13/glenfarclas-40-yo-2010-ob-46/

Hard to tell if this whisky is worth the actual price tag. You probably will have to forget about the times before 2014. The second question is whether you are lucky enough to have it in stock or not. Forgetting all about such evil things as exploding prices, this one still is a sweet dream of a whisky, something you really hope to be able to drink behind the pearly gates. Dream stuff, 92 points, one of my three highest rankings ever.

An
amazing dram. Priced reasonably as well (still available <£300 somewhere). I just hope it to be a tiny bit
stronger (46% abv for a 40yo isn’t really too bad though). It’s already at
pearl gates, but another 2% will make it into heaven.

GLENFARCLAS 40yo OB 46% released in 2010 · Fragrance: cassis, plum, caramel, dried grapes with branches, old Sherry's grape feeling which is also a little brandy-like, a noble feeling, a little leather and herbs, a sense of barley are not so clear. · Taste: Crisply noble Shelley feeling, sweet and sour plum and grape, diluted coffee, moderate viscosity. Although Shelley feeling is strong, the sweetness is not sticky, and it is sweet and sour impure elegance due to the better acidity. There is also a good astringent taste, the balance as Sherry cask 's malt is wonderful anyhow. Medium body. To a fruity finish with a feeling of euphoria with a well-balanced impression. · Water addition: It does not collapse at all. The sense of noble Shelley like Old is rather strengthened. · Overall rating: Malt whisky of good old Shelly Cask. Anyway, the balance of sweet, sour, and astringent taste is wonderful, and there is no punch, but a feeling like an honor student with no faults. I think it is a taste produced by OB's vatting and good watering. http://www.whiskylink.com/?p=17261

Just read this review of Serge @ Whiskyfun:

"Glenfarclas 40 yo (46%, OB, 2010)  This
is the rather fairly priced (when compared to other 40yo officials by
other distillers) new wonder! ......

->In short, a classic.<-

......................... SGP:562 - 91 points."Can't believe it, Serge seems to copy Edwin de Lange ! 

;-)

Price evaluation: Starting from a starting price of 240 euros.

See the 2012 edition for a tasting note, please! 

 93/100 !!

‘Wonderful old gold’
N: The final dram of this Glenfarclas showdown.  The 25 and 30yo haven’t been incredible so heres hoping i’ve saved the best till last. The 40yo is noticeably darker than the previous two so in this case the sherry cask influence seems more apparent. Its yeasty, its malty, theres ripe bananas and chocolate but most importantly theres lots of sherry, hoorah! -  mature, oak soaked sherry and happily the sherry cask and spirit are very well married. The pepper is light, theres some citrus and other summer fruits, there a light nuttiness [ground almonds this time], dried raspberry/cocoa/carab and a light herbal floral note - raspberry leaves, blackberry bushes, nasturtiums and comfrey [possibly] and a touch of Pyracantha. Theres so much here, i’m picking up loads of different preserves now and bitters/tinctures/cordials. At 46%, abv wise its the strongest of the trio but its also the most restrained. Those years of maturation have ultimately softened the ethanol and with it created a depth and density in flavour that make this whisky easy to romanticize about.
T: Finally - sherry!, wonderful oak infused sherry, this one is on the money. Complex sherry induced syrups and wood oils are on show with clear notes of the charring that happened decades before this was bottled. The development isn’t at all complex, the peppery, oak spirit simply arrives and takes a pew on the palate - very proud of its many years of service, and rightfully so. This is wonderful old gold.
F: Tannic, chalky with powdered milk turning to single cream then aniseed before developing to old burned vanilla pods. Theres history here.
C: The Glenfarclas showdown is done and one thing is clear - the old one, its not perfect but its still a cracker!

Scores an A-

http://www.weinkenner.de/2014/glenfarclas-aktuelle-standards-von-15yo-bis-zu-40yo-32917/

Color: Old gold with light amber
Nose: dark fruits (plums, plums and wild berries), creamy chocolate and raisins. Add balsamic cream with some smoke and a light rubberstitch. Now a bit spicier (compared to the 30yo) with red peppercorns and herbs.
Taste: Oily, creamy balsamic cream, sherry orange marmalade, cinnamon, cloves, tobacco, leather, cigar box, lots of salt and more black pepper. Honey, vanilla, a little tarter and fresher (based on herbs) with oak trees that are just beginning to emerge.
Finish: Relatively long - smokey and woodier. Dry marzipan and only a little fruit and honey in the finish. Most flavors are also transferred into the finish and sound subtle.
89 points (nose: 88 / taste: 92 / finish: 88)

A big thanks to Jan Vissers (Whiskyshop -Zammel (B))

Dear Bjorn & Jan,

 

Here are the details for Glenfarclas 40 Years Old:

 

1st Release

Bottled – 25/03/2010

2100 bottles

 

2nd Release

Bottled – 11/07/2011

2100 bottles

 

3rd Release

Bottled – 26/11/2012

3900 bottles

 

I hope that the above is helpful and if I can be of
any further assistance please let me know.

 

Kind Regards

 

Ian
A McWilliam

Marketing Executive

J & G Grant

Glenfarclas Distillery

Ballindalloch

Banffshire                                                                 Scotland

AB37 9BD

Glenfarclas 40 year is a delicious sweet and particularly

fruity drink, surrounded by complete aromas that arouse curiosity. He has a cognac color, in

the mouth he has aromas of orange slices dipped in liquid chocolate with hints

of roasted brown sugar toffee, strong coffee and liqueur. The aftertaste is long with some

drying Tannis and rich aromas of dark cocoa beans. .

Nose: At first dominant: Sherry! Oak!
very complex (dark) notes, opens slowly. Earthy. Chocolate. Coffee beans. dried plums, raisins. old leather armchair. Nuts. Later on, "lighter" fruit notes such as raspberry or orange, ripe apples are added.

Taste: oily, coffee, sweet, caramel, dark chocolate, spicy or clear traces of oak (not too much or in a bitter way, even after such a long time!).
Again, it takes a while for it to develop, but then it really gives you the throttle. slightly peppery.

Finish: long in the mouth, always evolving. very exciting and delicious. As if you had just sucked a candy or eaten marzipan.

great color! great whisky. Glenfarclas at it`s best.
The 46 percent you do not taste out, in my opinion, like a few percent more ;-)

Great Whisky from a great distillery!

Excellent vatting of 100% matured in 1st fill and refill Oloroso casks. Shows all of the typical Glenfarclas sherry profile, such as dark chocolate, coffee, dried fruits and oranges, burnt brown sugar, christmas pudding, all well balanced, nicely spiced and not too woody - even after 40 years in the oak.

And the best - it is affordable. An excellent value for the price. I adore this statement from a independent, family owned distillery. 

Colour: Rich dark mysterious Gold
Nose: Antique leather, walnuts and chocolate covered raisins.
Flavour: A sweet initial taste, orange segments, chocolate. Then a lovely flavour of burnt brown sugar.
Finish: The dry finish oozes big tannins and more rich dark cocoa beans. Let the whisky breathe a little or add a drop or two of water to fully open up the dram.
Comment: This new Glenfarclas 40 Years Old, bottled in March 2010, has been awarded a score of 95/100 by the Malt Advocate magazine.

 

http://www.shanghai9.net/whisky-whisky/glenfarclas-40-year-single-highland-malt-scotch-whisky.html