Glenfarclas Tasting Event
If there's one thing Miami has lacked for ages, it's a unified whisky community. Much more of a rum-and-coke (Cuba Libre) kind of town, or bottle-service vodka at the marquee clubs downtown and on the Beach. Thankfully, a group of enterprising individuals has transformed the scene, starting last year, by organizing tasting events and getting brand ambassadors or representatives from major distilleries to come across the pond and teach us a little something about their whiskies! Courtesy of Scotch Society 305, I and some friends from work went to a Glenfarclas tasting at Dolores but You Can Call Me Lolita last month.
Glenfarclas, as I've mentioned in earlier reviews, is an unusual distillery because it remains family-owned in the age of mass consolidation and luxury conglomerate ownership. For instance, among my favorite distilleries, Laphroaig is owned by the Japanese spirits giant Beam Suntory (Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Canadian Club, Hornitos tequilas, Suntory whiskies, etc.); Lagavulin is a Diageo product (they own everything, should I even bother to name their brands?); and Ardbeg belongs to LVMH (as in, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey). There really are few family-owned distilleries left in Scotland: Glenfarclas and Kilchoman are the only two that come to mind.
George Grant, a 6th generation member of the family that's owned Glenfarclas since the 1800s, led the tasting, which was a treat. His great-great-something-grandfather purchased the place for around 50£. A pour of one of the final whiskies of the night would cost that much nowadays.
Grant also revealed that, outside of Scotland, Glenfarclas apparently kills it in the markets of Germany and Taiwan. Germans prefer the brand because all of their whiskies are non-chill filtered and have no added artificial color. The Taiwanese, meanwhile, apparently are mad for single malts. Unlike the rest of the world, which uniformly consumes about 90% blended whisky compared to 10% single malts, the Taiwanese market is a stunning 75-80% single malt whiskies. Quite frankly, I don't think you'd see such a high percentage of single malt favoritism in the heart of Scotland. It's truly a testament to the globalization and popularization of this hobby that, quite literally halfway across the world, Glenfarclas has found its truest fans.
Another interesting story that he told was about the culture of the whisky industry in Scotland. Twice a year, representatives from the major distilleries (it was unclear whether he meant Speyside/Highlands only, or including other regions) gathered for a joint dinner, where each representative would bring bottles from his or her brand. This meant that 50 to 100 people would have 90 bottles of whisky on the tables in front of them. The only rules were that they couldn't leave until they'd finished every last drop, and until everyone had aired out any grievances or grudges that had developed in the intervening six months. In other words, the industry custom meant that everyone had to reconcile within, at worst, half a year -- not a bad idea!
The one downside of this event was that it was outside on a typical, brutally hot Miami summer evening. However, the first-rate company and excellent scotches soon helped me to forget that one shortcoming of this event.
Here are my thoughts on the whiskies that we were able to try that night.
Glenfarclas 10 (40% ABV) - One oddity about Glenfarclas is how many age-stated whiskies they have. Most distilleries do 3 standard age statements, like 12, 15, and 18. Glenfarclas does quirkier ones, and more of them. It has this 10, but also a 12 (which I did not enjoy), 15, 17 (which I very much did), 21, and 25-year old as part of its normal lineup. The 10 to me was a classic, young, and relatively mindless sherry-aged dram with light notes of cherry, vanilla, and grassiness. This dram was poured at the beginning of the night, before we sat down, to whet the palate; and, in that role, it succeeded admirably. B-
Glenfarclas 17 (43%) - I loved this whisky the first time I tried it, and I was happy to see that my impressions remained consistent. As I noted in my earlier review, this is not a sherry bomb, perhaps because of its relatively moderate ABV. Instead, it is a well-balanced, harmonious mixture of red velvet cake, honey, and mild sherry, with more more orange and citrus fruits and the slightest hint of smokiness emerging over time. In this tasting, I noted that the finish had the most pronounced and distinct oak note of all the expressions. Compared to everything else we tried, this might be closer to a B+ rather than the A- that I originally rated it, but that's a minor difference.
Glenfarclas 25 (43%) - This one might have been the star of the evening for me. It smelled of oiled leather and ripe fruit wrapped in newspaper. From the first sip to the last, it was delightfully creamy in texture, featuring butterscotch, roasted nuts, and dark sherry sultanas. It isn't quite right to say that this whisky finishes; instead, it makes itself at home in the back of the throat with loads of oak and a combination of smoke and coffee that are sublime. There's an interesting phenomenon where well-aged sherried single malts (starting around the 18-year mark) develop some smoky flavors in the finish thanks to the sulfur content of their barrels, while peat-smoke-laden Islay whiskies mellow out over time and grow quite sweet and balanced by their late teens. In other words, while a true fan of whisky can always tell the two apart, those two polar opposites in the whisky world grow surprisingly close as they approach their ideal age. At about $150-170 a bottle, this is a pricey pour but a great value-for-money considering that no other 25-year old whisky is even under $200 to my awareness. A
Glenfarclas 40 (46%) - Quite frankly, this would be an unattainable whisky, one that I wouldn't be able to try, without events like these. Thus, I'm both grateful to have tasted it, yet perhaps predisposed to downplay its virtues. This is a wonderful whisky as well, but my overall impression is that the additional aging has dimmed its brightness and vigor somewhat. The nose, while still rich, has an unexpected and slightly unpleasant permanent marker note. The palate, on the other hand, is spot-on: orchard fruit, burnt sugar, and caramel. The finish features tobacco and smoke, and becomes increasingly dry on subsequent sips. It's still a hell of a value at its $1,000 retail price in the sense that no other 40-year old whisky sells for close to that. But if the whisky hits its peak around 25 years of age, then what's the point of going further? B+
Glenfarclas 1973 Family Cask (58.1%) - Bottled in 2011, this is a 34-year old, cask-strength single barrel of Glenfarclas, part of its Family Cask series. That series features single barrels from almost every year from the 1950s onward, and is another unique release from this distillery. Drinking this, one would never have the faintest idea of its ABV. Its aromas are more bourbon-like than I expected, and stand apart dramatically from the other whiskies that we tried, which all were variations on a theme. This whisky has heavy vanilla, oak, and caramel, with little of the fruitiness I'd expect from sherry aging. But, unexpectedly, all of that emerges when I sip it: resinous, sticky fruit cake, filled with raisins. Its lingering flavors are smoky, but with a healthy helping of baking spices and ginger. At around $800, this is another once-in-a-lifetime pour, but it didn't beat out the well-balanced 25 either. A-