Regular Bottling:
Glenfarclas 8 YO 40% (mainly for Switzerland, Austria and Belgium)
Glenfarclas 10 YO 40%
Glenfarclas 12 YO 43%
Glenfarclas 105 cask strength 60%
Glenfarclas 15 YO 46%
Glenfarclas 17 YO 43% (mainly for the USA and the Far East)
Glenfarclas 21 YO 43%
Glenfarclas 25 YO 43%
Glenfarclas 30 YO 43%
For the tasted whiskies, click here
Glenfarclas is one of the rare independent whisky company left in Scotland and well known for the quality of their single malts. About 80% of the whiskies are matured in sherry casks. Floor malting were operational until 1972. In addition of having the largest wash stills of the Speyside, they have also one of the largest (the largest?) mash tun of the area (semi-lauter).
I had the opportunity to visit the Glenfarclas distillery in November 2005 in company of Mr. Robert Ransom, Sales and Marketing Manager. The distillery quite remote and modern. Don't look for a Doig's pagoda roof in the distillery, it has been moved to the top of the visitor centre. The malt barn is much larger than in most distilleries of the Speyside and can store malt for about 2 weeks of production. Interestingly, to acess to the brewing house, you have to climb and to pass the ultra-modern swiss Bühler mill and the destoner. It does give a change to the traditional red Boby mills. In the brewing house, the semi-lauter mash tun and the washbacks are made of stainless steel. The mash tun is quite impressive and can hold 15 tonnes of grist. Its diameter is 10 metres. In the still house, there are 6 stills (3 Wash and 3 Spirits), which can work as a group of 2+2 or 1+1. During my visit, 2 Wash stills and 2 Spirit Stills were working, while the 2 other stills (1 wash and 1 spirit) were turned off (for cleaning?). All the stills had a reflux bowl neck. The stills are about 10 mm thick in their base and heated by direct fire. It is said that the direct fire gives to Glenfarclas its distinctive flavours. Those stills can last about 20 years before being replaced. Unfortunately, I did not had the opportunity to visit the warehouses and the visit ended up in the visitor center with a dram of Glenfarclas 10 YO in the Ships room. The Ships room is furnished with oak panels coming from the Empress of Australia ship. In 1990, Glenfarclas decided to change of sherry cask suppliers.
Source: Distillery Visit, Ian A. McWilliam (Marketing Excutive, Glenfarclas), Glenfarclas.co.uk and The Scotch Whisky Distilleries by Misako Udo.
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| The ultra-modern Bühler Swill mill. | The 10m diameter stainless steel Mash tun. |
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| The six stills (3 Wash and 3 Spirits) in the Still house with their reflux bowl necks. | The inside of a wash still. |
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| They have dunnage style warehouses at Glenfarclas, on one (back) or two levels (front). |
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| Some single cask (cask strength) bottling from Glenfarclas distilled in 1974, 1991 and 1994 as well as the limited edition for the millenium. |
| Official/Original bottlings (OB) | |
| Age | |
| Glenfarclas 8 YO, OB, 40%. B:2005 | Rating: 10/20  |
| Glenfarclas 21 YO, OB, 43%, B: 2009 | Rating: 15/20  |
| Glenfarclas 21 YO for E. Giaconne, Pinerolo import, OB, 51.5% | Rating: 17/20 |
| Glenfarclas 25 YO, OB, 43%, B: 2008 | Rating: 13/20  |
| Glenfarclas 30 YO, OB, 43%, B: 2009 | Rating: 15/20 |
| Vintages | |
| Glenfarclas 1952 Family Cask, OB, 56.5%, c. 1712, 110 b. | Rating: 17/20 |
| Glenfarclas 1953 Family cask, OB, 53.7%, c. 486. | Rating: 17/20 |
| Glenfarclas 1968 Family Cask 699 Gonzaless Byass for Luc Timmermans, OB, 51%, B: 2009, 60 bottles. | Rating: 18/20  |
| Glenfarclas 1973 in Flames, OB, 58.8%, B: 2007, c. 2578, 189 b. | Rating: 18/20 |
| Glenfarclas 1986 Family Cask, OB, 49%, cask 2919 | Rating: 14/20 |
| Glenfarclas 1988 Family Cask, OB, 56.3%, c. 703 | Rating: 18/20 |
| Glenfarclas 1991 LMDW, 13 YO, OB, 46%, c. 5621 | Rating: 13/20 |
| Glenfarclas 1994 Family cask, OB, 59.6%, B: 2007 cask 2935 | Rating: 15/20 |
| Glenfarclas 1996 Manzanilla cask, 9 YO, OB, 46%, B: 2005. 816 b. | Rating: 12/20 |
| Independent bottlings (IB) and "anonymous Glenfarclas/Ballindaloch (?)" | |
| Adelphi | |
| Breath of Speyside (Glenfarclas ?) 1991, 18 YO, Adelphi, 54.2%, cask 5145, 520 b | Rating: 17/20 |
| The Whisky That Cannot Be Named(Glenfarclas?), 50 YO, Adelphi, 53.1%, B: 2003 | Rating: 19/20 |
| Daily Dram | |
| Feral Clangs (Glenfarclas) 1966, 41 YO, Daily Dram, 45.7%, B: 2008 | Rating: 14/20 |
| Douglas Laing | |
| Speyside 1966 OMC for the Whisky Show 2009, 43 YO, D. Laing, 48.2%, B: 2009 | Rating: 14/20 |
| Scott's selection | |
| Glenfarclas1965 ("Limited Edition Single Highland Malt"), 40 YO, Scott’s selection, 48.5%, B: 2005 | Rating: 17/20 |
| The Whisky Agency (TWA) | |
| Speyside 1976 Perfect Dram (Glenfarclas ?), 33 YO, The Whisky Agency, 53.4%, B: 2009, 125 b. | Rating: 15/20 |
| The Whisky Fair | |
| Speyside Single Malt 1965 (Glenfarclas?), 41 YO, The Whiskyfair, B: 2007, 53.5%, 150 bottles | Rating: 18/20  |
| Speyside Single Malt 1966 (Glenfarclas?), 40 YO, The Whiskyfair, B: 2007, 52.4%, 150 b. | Rating: 08/20 |
P.Brossard Jan. 2006. Updated on the 29th of Jan. 2006 thanks to comments from Ian A. McWilliam (Glenfarclas).
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