Glenfarclas 22 years

About the Glenfarclas 22 years

Glenfarclas 22 years is a sherried single malt Scotch whisky from Speyside, in northern Scotland. The distillery sits at Ballindalloch, below the slopes of Ben Rinnes. Robert Hay founded it in 1836, and the Grant family bought it in 1865. Five generations later, they still own and run the place. This bottling carries a 22 year age statement and 43% ABV. Spanish oak sherry casks did the maturing. Six Forsyths copper stills work here, and every one is heated by direct gas fire. In 1981 the distillery tried steam coils instead, the modern standard. The new make came out weaker and blander, so the flames went back on. Direct heat gives a heavier spirit that stands up to European oak. Water comes from a spring on Ben Rinnes, under a 1930 access agreement. Casks are built in Jerez by José y Miguel Martin. Cherry and fresh fruit arrive first, with vanilla sitting just behind them. Sweetness runs through the aroma without turning sugary. The palate is broader: malty cereal, dark chocolate, crisp apple, a floral lift. Spice builds slowly, and cinnamon is the clearest note in it. Twenty two years of sherry wood shows in the depth, not in raw tannin. Everything tightens at the close, where vanilla and a gentle sweetness carry through. Glenfarclas 22 years is not a permanent fixture like the 12 or the 105. It appears as a limited release, so bottle counts stay small. The extra years past the 21 year old show up as weight rather than wood. Fruit holds on where many older sherried malts turn dry and bitter. Glenfarclas keeps a deep bank of aged stock, roughly 103,000 casks across 44 warehouses. That reserve is why a 22 year old can exist here at all.