Whisky Online Blog

Glenfarclas is one of those distilleries it is very hard not to love. Family owned, very independent, very generous, very enthusiatic and welcoming. Not to mention the whisky; direct fired stills, epic investment in top notch sherry casks, a glittering back catalogue of gorgeous stock. Who could resist their charms? So today we’ll try a pair of official 1960 Glenfarclas, well almost, the Millennium 40yo doesn’t state ’1960′ as a vintage but I’m assured it’s almost entirely from this year. Enough chatter, lets try them…

I just realised this is the only picture of the actual bottle I possess. Here we see the wonderful Helen from Glenfarclas pouring a dram of the Millennium 40yo for a very satisfied visitor at the Whisky Show in London.

Glenfarclas “Millennium 40yo’ OB. Bottled 2000. 43%. 70cl.

Colour: Mahogany

Nose: What strikes first is this very distinctive note that some might describe as sulphuresque but I find it has a real dirty beauty to it, not cloying or intrusive, it’s more like a some very old earthy phenolic qualities surrounded by lots of stewed fruits and sultanas. Very earthy whisky, this was from the era at Glenfarclas when the malt was still peated. Old leaf mulch, forest flora, dried mushrooms, wet earth, damp hessian, dunnage floors, really beautiful and distinctive nose. The sherry is fragrant and profound but not cloying or overpowering in any way.

Palate: Lovely spicy old wood with a few juicy tannins round the sides of the mouth but still beautifully balanced sherry. Lovely old notes of rancio, cough medicine, tobacco leaf, leather, dried meats, sultanas and some curious notes of black olive tapenade and various herbs. Becomes waxy and oily, there are still glimmers of peat, it feels like the phenols have held the whole thing together behind the scenes, I really like this, it’s dangerously drinkable.

Finish: Long, earthy, leafy, phenolic and full of stewed fruits, more sultana notes and reduced characteristics.

Comments: I love this but I do know a few people who really don’t like it. Some say too woody some too dirty, but I love it, I think that slight phenolic/dirty earthy quality really freshens it and makes it stand out. Something delicious and a bit different.

Score: 91/100

Lets see what another seven years of aging does to the same distillate.

Glenfarclas Family Cask 1960. OB. cask: 1767. Bottled 27/02/2007. 228 bottles. 52.4%. 70cl.

Colour: Pedro Ximénez

Nose: This is more classical Glenfarclas, very syrupy, focused sherry qualities. Lots of fruit syrups, ancient cognac and pastis with notes of marzipan, smoky bacon, salted almonds and tobacco leaf. This is a bit of sherry monster this one but it’s perfectly clean, nothing approaching the ‘dirty’ qualities of the Millennnium edition. Rancio, wet earth, shammy leather, furniture polish, preserved lemon rind and notes of old marc de gewurtz eau de vie that has lain in glass for many years. Quite a powerhouse of a dram so far. With water the nose becomes more farmy and earthy with some even bigger notes of marzipan, there are even some little flecks of minerality which is quite astonishing.

Palate: Very woody with big, chocolatey, dark tannins and flavours akin to wood bark, pine resin, old cognac, mixed nuts, old leather and walnut oil. If you like massive, pristine sherry then you’ll probably need a change of underwear for this one. It’s not massively complex but this sort of whisky is more about intensity and delivery of flavour, on that level it’s pretty flawless. Now notes of prune eua de vie, molasses, old dark rum, dark brown sugar and apple crumble. Lets try with water… BAM! Now theres treacle, dark chocolate, old spices and phenols all over the joint. Glorious with water, those tannins are still there but they somehow manage not to be too overtly cloying, a real tightrope walker. Now all kinds of herb liqueurs, flints, greengages, dried herbs and mushrooms. I retract my previous comment this is becoming more and more complex by the minute.

Finish: Long, incredibly dense and mouthcoating. Feels like the best old rums and cognacs rolled up in a big perfect sherry cask.

Comments: I wasn’t expecting to like this one so much. I tried it briefly last weekend in Alsace and I thought it was just too much sherry for my taste but now given a fresh palate, lots of time and a few drops of water this is brilliant old whisky. It’s really staggering how the sherry can be so intense and yet still allow so many other flavours through. A great old Glenfarclas, one that really rewards time and water.

Score: 92/100

Once again… Merci beaucoup Moinseur Valentin!

It’s no great secret in whisky circles these days how brilliant Longmorn can be. An oily and rugged distillate that benefitted from direct fired distillation until the year 2000, it can develop over time the most glorious fruit character. I think it is among a handful of distilleries that are capable of serious aging and if you get a chance to try some of these older Longmorns from the early seventies or before then go for it because they’re almost all brilliant and will inevitably, one day, be gone.

Longmorn 1964-1994 30yo. Signatory. Cask 324. 150 bottles. 43%. 70cl.

I did an on the hoof, somewhat over enthusiastic (possibly tipsy) video review of this one for the good folks at connosr when I was at the whisky show in London a few weeks back, lets do it some real justice today.

Colour: Straw

Nose: Very old school, smells like some of these old 8 and 10yo malts bottled in the early seventies and sixties, think old G&M Longmorn 10yo or dumpy Aberlour 8yo. I wonder if this has gathered some OBE since being bottled in 1994. Lots of minerals and all kinds of delicate fruits, greengages, guavas, dried mango, white flowers and a little gentle lamp oil and camphor. This is very delicate, I suspect that it was reduced to 43% before bottling. Now some cereal and hessian notes with elements of muesli, honey and buttered toast, obviously a breakfast whisky this one. Great flickers of clean flints and stones.

Palate: Really soft delivery full of minerals, a little vanilla cream, some very pleasant metallic notes (quite OBEish really). Caraway seeds, liquorice, cumin, green bananas, nutmeg and rice pudding. Really gentle texture in the mouth, this one tip toes across the palate. It has a really attractive dry, floral austerity about it. Like an old riesling that’s just at the end of its prime before it starts to decline. Fresh butter and olive oil now, beautiful.

Finish: Medium to long with lots of green tea, dried fruits, tropical fruits and more metallic mineral qualities.

Comments: This one is tough because it feels a tad weakish overall, I suspect that time in the bottle has done that to it. However it is beautifully understated, perfectly balanced and the flavours are pure, old school class. I love it but I suspect that bottles may vary, some may be even better than this one if they’ve kept their intensity a little better. Anyway pretty much same score as in London, minus one point in the cold, analytical light of day.

Score: 91/100

Longmorn 1964-2010, 46yo. G&M Private Collection. Fresh sherry Hogshead. Cask 1534. 164 bottles. 51.9%. 70cl.

Colour: Very dark treacle.

Nose: Immensely polished, pure and intense sherry at first, it doesn’t cloy the nostrils though, rather it sort of bathes them in a thick fug of dundee cake, stewed fruits, concentrated dark treacle, dark rum, caramelised brown sugar and high quality furniture polish. Further notes of antique shops, old books, old leather, cigar tobacco and big dollops of chocolate, resin, mocha, cocoa and freshly chopped walnuts. This is a pretty stupendous sherry cask, the kind that almost certainly doesn’t exist any more. Now we get down to fresh earth, leaf mulch, mushrooms, hints of cannabis resin, black tea and rancio. If you like sherry you’ll probably die for this nose. With water there are a few more fresh leaves and notes of espresso, more chocolate and caramel.

Palate: Very big arrival, massive notes of apples baked in cinnamon, treacle, bitter dark chocolate, tobacco, prunes and big clean woody notes. Very tannic round the sides of the mouth, this is a stupendous sherry cask but it’s maybe a bit active for my liking. Lets try with a little water… that’s softened the tannins quite a bit and brought out lots of roasted coffee beans, more dark chocolate, truffle oil, concentrated dried fruits, candied peel and orange muscat.

Finish: Long and packed full of dark chocolate, aged tokaji, espresso, mixed nuts and some big tannins.

Comments: Well you have to like sherry. I’m not the biggest fan of immense sherry in the world but this is very impressive, the cask is absolutely flawless and it really is a great whisky. I’m not sure I could drink too much of it as the tannins become just a bit too cloying after the first dram. If you like your sherry big, dark, polished and intense then this is for you. The nose is stupendous neat but the palate is better with water so pour two glasses, one for sniffing one for sipping.

Score: 91/100

Longmorn 1978-2010, 31yo. Speciality Drinks, ‘Masterpiece’ Series. Bourbon cask. 135 bottles. 58%. 70cl.

Colour: Amber

Nose:  This is not as distinctively Longmorn as some of the early seventies casks floating about, it’s more a low key, very well aged highland style nose. Vanilla, damp sackcloth, old books, caramel, creme brulee, some dried herbs and a few hints of petrol and minerals with a little background waxiness. With time some white flowers and Longmornesque green fruits begin to emerge, greengages, pineapple, bananas and notes of buttery digestive biscuits. With water it becomes much oilier and fruitier, it’s much more recognisable as Longmorn now. Hints of fresh butter, candle wax, spice, Cointreau, candied peel, strawberries and cream and some confectionary sweetness.

Palate: Big notes of hessian, sweet vanilla, woody spices and several kinds of oil. Quite pleasantly sweet with some very nice supple fruits in the background balancing things out a bit. Toasted cocoanut, chocolate McVites, marshmallows, apple sourz, mandarins, orange marmalade, coriander seeds and a bit of alcoholic prickle. With water there’s big spice, baked bananas, fresh custard, flowers, sweet oak and some hints of old dessert wine.

Flinish: Medium to long and focused on these reduced characters of old desert wine and dried fruits.

Comments: I tasted these in ascending order of strength but the first two were pretty stellar whiskies and I feel this may have suffered a tad by latter comparison. Having said that this is a very good whisky and an interesting snapshot into the life and times of latter seventies Longmorn. I wouldn’t say it’s a masterpiece, but it is damn good whisky. Excellent cask selection methinks.

Score: 88/100

Here are a couple of Laddies I picked up at the Whisky Show in London the other week. I am very fond of naked, natural Bruichladdich when it gets a little age behind it and all that lovely coastal, fruity duality comes shining forth, so lets hope these wont disappoint.

'MCMLXXVII', the first in Bruichladdich's new 'catchy title' series. Look out next moth for the 'Mr McEwan's Mobile Mid-Atlantic Medical Misfit Masochist's Monolith Edition: Alliteration Finish'.

Bruichladdich ‘MCMLXXVII’. 1977, 32yo OB. 47.4%. 844 bottles. 70cl.

Colour: Delicate Gold (whatever that means)

Nose: Ahh… seventies Bruichladdich! It’s amazing how so few malts can carry the maturity of age and still retain such an invigorating freshness. The nose is almost reminiscent of an old early seventies Clynelish. Lots of coastal attributes, citrus, seaweed, wet pebbles, flints, minerals, heather and sea salt. Then the fruits start to come through, lots of guavas, papaya, pomegranate, slightly green banana, lychee and some white flowers with a little vanilla dancing about. There is even something slightly smoky, like very dry, delicately acrid struck flints. Lamp oil and hessian now, becomes a little industrial with these notes of old boiler sheds and furniture wax. Still deliriously fresh, like standing on a blustery shore after a stormy night. Like the Ardbeg 72 yesterday, this is really evocative of the place it was made.

Palate: Sharp and very pristine on the palate, oily with a big citrus bite and full on minerality. Interesting hints of sunflower seeds, dates, muesli and freshly baked bread. Clear and aridly dry coastal flavours now, very saline and delicately floral. The oiliness becomes very gentle and the crisp saltiness becomes pretty intense but it’s balanced by some lovely green fruitiness and flavours of sandalwood, lanolin, fleeting lavender and a little sootiness. This practically defines the words ‘fresh’ and ‘coastal’.

Finish: Long and drying with citrus rind, grease, waxiness, more minerals and salt.

Comments: I remember trying a cask of 1977 Bruichladdich at the distillery back in 2006. I remember it being good then but perhaps not this good. This is a dram that’s really worth paying attention to, there’s a lot in there to reward a fresh palate. I think this really has benefitted from an Island maturation.

Score: 91/100

Last year's multivintage 'DNA' bottling. Let's see if it can stand the salty might of the 1977.

Bruichalddich DNA. OB. 36yo, bottled 2009. Multivinatage late 60s/ early 70s. 41%. 70cl. Finished in Le Pin Pomerol red wine casks (sadly).

Colour: Amber

Nose: Lots of nicely aged fruit character and some lovely big oiliness but without the same intense coastal freshness of the 77, probably due to more intense wood activity. The wine influence is quite subdued for now thankfully and what come through are some lovely stewed fruits, sultanas, marzipan, demerara sugars, aged rum and a little boot polish. Cranberry juice, a little salty zing, paraffin, nutmeg, cocoanut and some nice pecan aromas. Very nice nose, fragile but quite balanced and with an beguiling complexity about it.

Palate: A little more obvious wine influence here, quite a bit sharper than expected with some hints of berry fruit, and redcurrant jam. More citric cranberry flavours, nutmeg and walnut oil with some nice notes of mocha and bitter dark chocolate. Biscotti, a little cinnamon and more jam flavours, good gentle development here even if the wine and wood influence is a little awkward and clumsy on the palate. Final notes of sawdust and fresh pine needles. A Christmasy dram perhaps?

Finish: Not the longest but quite compact and reveals a nice freshness even after many years and a wine cask to contend with.

Comments: The impression I get from drinking this whisky is that it was a good enough dram to withstand being in a wine cask, rather than the wine cask actually contributing anything positive to it. Anyway, it’s very nice Bruichladdich that carries the distillery character quite charmingly while being very drinkable to boot.

Score: 87/100