Review #33: Glenfarclas 12 Year

Distillery: Glenfarclas

Region: Speyside

ABV: 43%

Age: 12 Year

Price: $37 (on sale at local grocery store, can’t remember full price)

Color: 1.2, Chestnut, Oloroso Sherry.

Nose (according to the wife):Sweet with lots of sherry and honey along with a lot of floral fragrance.

Palate: It has a really thin mouthfeel, which isn’t particularly pleasant. There is definitely a lot of sherry influence (like a good Glenfarclas should have) along with some notes of honey, oranges, floral tea, and a slight bit of nuttiness. The orange is more like the flavor you get of orange rinds and becomes a lot more prominent with water.

Finish: Medium to long. It is a little dry—reminds me a lot of a refreshing floral teal—but it leaves a lovely sherry finish at the end. There’s a tad of raisin and oak spice in here as well to round it up.

Conclusion: I have to say I’ve never been disappointed by a Glenfarclas before having this one (for what it’s worth, this is the third expression I’ve tried). As a whisky, it’s definitely pleasant enough to drink but it’s not the full bodied sherry bomb I expect. The thin palate is a bit off putting and not what I’ve ever had with a Glenfarclas bottling. There is a bit more complexity to this one than it’s 10 year old counterpart but not enough to offset the thin mouthfeel. I don’t think I’ll be getting a second bottle of this and I’ll stick to the 10 year old as my go-to budget sherried whisky.

Final Score: 77

Scotch whisky review #33, Speyside review #16, Whisky Network Review #43

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection.
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.