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KWM 2021 Whisky Calendar Day 7: Glenfarclas 105

Posted on December 6, 2023

by Evan

Hello daddy! Hello mom! I'm your Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh Sherry Bomb!

We are jumping from 40% ABV on Day 6 all the way up to 60% ABV on Day 7. Say hello to the Glenfarclas 105!

Many of us are very familiar with Glenfarclas as a distillery and the story of the Grant family behind it. The distillery has been owned by the Grants for six Generations now. To keep things simple for the rest of us to remember the family history, all six patriarchs of the family have been named John or George. The current face of the distillery is George. His dad is still around as well and his name is John. The family has owned the distillery for more than 150 years. 

What was Glenfarclas selling for their core range ten, fifteen, twenty years ago? The same bottles as they have today. Glenfarclas’ core range consists of the 105 Cask Strength, 12-year-old, 15 year old (which was in the 2019 KWM Whisky Calendar), 17 year old, 21 year old (which was also in the 2019 KWM Whisky Calendar), 25 year old, 30 year old, and 40-year-old. This doesn’t even take into account the impressive slew of Family Cask single vintage releases that at one point included each consecutive year between 1954 and 2002! Style-wise, they are still sherry-cask-focused for the entire range. No playing around with cask finishes or experimenting with peat here.



The Grant's see themselves as curators of Glenfarclas distillery for future generations of their family. They want to make sure that what has been built remains, so they don’t make big decisions solely based on the boom and bust ecosystem of the whisky industry. Change is great, change is fun, but it is refreshing to find a family and a distillery that doesn’t change everything based on the whims of trends and shareholders.

Going legal in 1836 and run by the Grant Family since 1870, Glenfarclas as a brand has been a model of consistency for quite a long time. This consistency is refreshing compared to the vast and often confusing changes other Scotch Whisky labels have gone through over the past decade or more. One popular brand has shifted from age statements to colour codes and now back again, but not the same as it once was. It can be difficult to be a fan of a brand that can't even maintain a core range well. That is not something that you have to worry about with Glenfarclas.



Glenfarclas as a brand has been important to me for quite a while. It was my first introduction to selling whisky. Years ago I would pour Glenfarclas at festivals, sometimes alongside George Grant himself. I had the chance to visit Scotland and the distillery for the first time in October of 2019, and it made me fall in love with the whisky all over again.

Back to today's dram: The Glenfarclas 105 was introduced more than 50 years ago, back in 1968. It was the first small batch, cask strength Single Malt Whisky released by a distillery. Like everything that Glenfarclas Distillery releases, the whisky within the 105 was matured entirely in ex-sherry casks. No age statement is given on the bottles, but my guess is we are looking at a whisky that is between 7-10 years old. And of course, it is bottled at a bracing 60% ABV or 105 British proof - hence the name. Pour a bit into your glass and it a taste!

Glenfarclas 105 - 60%

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Raisins, cranberries, trail mix, candied ginger, pancake syrup, furniture polish, heather, butterscotch, candied apple, and banana chips.

Palate: Big and spicey with a nice sweetness to back it up. Full of candied ginger, raisins, blanched almonds, boozy Christmas cake, rum hot toddy, maple candies, and a dash of pine sap.

Finish: Lots of dried fruit and syrupy sweetness with a slightly drying note at the end.

Comment: This is a dram that will warm you up on a cold day. The quintessential sherry bomb has possibly changed a bit over time in both age and profile, but it is still worth the money.

This is the first big sherry we have had thus far in the lineup. Will there be more to come? Only time will tell!

Cheers,
Evan
evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com
Twitter and Instagram: @sagelikefool

This entry was posted in Whisky, Tastings, Whisky Calendars, KWM Whisky Calendar 2021

 

 

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