Tuesday 29 January 2013

24 Days of Christmas Whisky: Day 17; Sweet Christmas Cake Sherry

Whisky: Glenfarclas 105 20 year old

 

Distillery/Brand:

Glenfarclas

 

Bottling:

Glenfarclas 105 20 Year Old

 

Region:

Speyside

 

ABV:

60%

 

Colour:

Old Gold
Review:
Last night I decided I needed to have a couple of drams, especially as I was sadly missing a whisky tasting that a friend, WhiskyBaz, was doing in Perth as I had to help my wife out at the family business.

I'd decided to start with Wasmund's Single Malt and from there I realized I'd been eying the Glenfarclas 105 20 year old for a while now.

Now I was more then a little nervous as my brother in law and I had tried the Glenfarclas 105 about a month ago on a whisky tasting.

It smelled of just sherry, nothing else.

It tasted of just sherry, nothing else.

We were not too pleased, to say the least.

Personally I suspect that we had a bad bottle, but I could be wrong. That whisky does require further tasting.

Anyway I cracked the sample open and poured it into the glencairn about 40 minutes after finishing the Wasmund's Single Malt.

Pouring a beautiful dark amber color which does make me smile, I am however quite hesitant after our first encounter.

/Sigh.

Deep breath.

It'll all be alright. Give it a nose.

Yes!

A beautiful, albeit typical sherry nose on this whisky.

Sherry aromas, raisins, sultanas, burnt caramel, brown sugar and lots of Christmasy spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, mmmm it smells like a Christmas cake.

Beautiful.

Much better then our first attempt!

Time for a taste though!

Big, very big whisky with again many typical sherry whisky flavors. A tiny amount of chocolate, but lots of red fruit and spices, sultanas and raisins with again lots of spice, however there is a wee bit of vanilla in there as well.

Very enjoyable.

It's both BIG and yet easy drinking at the same time.

A very long spicy finish that again reminds me of Christmas with lots of cinnamon and nutmeg,
but with vanilla finishes this whisky.

Is it alright to say that this whisky made me smile?

Because it did.

In fact this whisky made me want to go out once again and retaste the Glenfarclas 105.

Sadly though I've never seen this bottle for sale in Australia and considering that it looks like the average price of it sits at around $300 AUS a bottle, BEFORE Customs and shipping I'd expect to easily pay between $350 and $400 for it.

It's a REALLY nice whisky. Don't get me wrong and if I was living in the UK, buying whisky at UK prices I'd more then happily pick it up, especially considering the fond place in my heart that I have for Glenfarclas.

However is it $400? No where near that in my opinion. I'd much rather spend 1/4 that and get a whisky that's just as good, if not as old, Aberlour Abunadh.

However if you ever get a chance to try this bad boy out, make sure that you do!

Nose:        23/25
Taste:       23/25
Finish:      22/25
Balance:   22/25

Overall:    90/100

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