The label states this is a Blended Malt, but somewhere in my mind I registered this as Glenfarclas. I have no idea where I read or heard that, but there it is.

I guess ‘The Most Famous Distillery in Speyside’ helps in that direction, but that could also mean Macallan or Glenfiddich. Teaspooned, of course, whether that’s true or just something stated to make it illegal to name the distillery on the label, we’ll never know.

Anyway, a massively sherried Speyside whisky, from a bottler that I find more and more erratic with their releases. A couple of years ago I held them in high regard because of my experience with them, but lately not so much. Leaning heavily on ‘sherry bomb’ and similar things on the labels, and doing weird stuff with their casks (a Islay cask matured, Calvados cask finished Tormore, anyone?).

The color is appealing, though. I try to steer away from these very dark whiskies since they often aren’t as good as I hope them to be, but it still is appealing.

Sniff:
Sherry, with more spices than fruit. Also leather, old and cracked. A whiff of overripe mango and papaya. With a bit more time the baking spices and old oak change into a more tropical fruit approach.

Sip:
The palate is slightly more dry than I expected. Black pepper, sawdust, cinnamon, some cigar leaves. Slightly mulchy too.

Swallow:
The finish shows more of the complexity of the sherry with a bit of a slightly funky sweetness. The finish is quite long and there’s a lovely sherry spicy-and-sweet lingering flavor.

Well, I actually quite like this. There’s more complexity than I expected, and the lower ABV doesn’t make it too thin or anything. Very enjoyable and not ‘only’ modern sherry with a lot of dried fruits.

Current pricing, at € 173 is very high though, too high for this one.

87/100