About a year ago I hosted a tasting at work in which I tried to showcase the differences between things on labels on bottled of Scotch. So, young versus old, sherry against bourbon and peated as a contrast to unpeated whisky.

The older version was a Glenfarclas 25, and the younger was a Glenfarclas 8. This way I could keep the other variables to a minimum, and show what proper maturation does to a spirit.

There’s not an awful lot to say about this whisky, so let’s just dive in!

Sniff:
There’s a whiff of yeast from the sherry casks used, but it’s mostly rather spirity barley scents. As in, this is indeed quite young and (to me) it shows that Glenfarclas is meant to be older than this. Very spirity indeed.

Sip:
The palate is quite harsh, even after some other drams. It’s a bit raw, with a lot of the sharper notes from oak influence, but not the integration and roundedness it gets after more years (with Glenfarclas 15 seems to be the number). There’s barley, some pepper, a bit of resin. Sawdust, and yeasty spirit.

Swallow:
The finish goes straight back to the nose, but adds notes of milk chocolate. It’s not overly long, with some white pepper, oak, and young spirit.

76/100