Scotch Whisky Review #340: The Old Malt Cask “Plausibly Speyside’s Finest Distillery” Glenfarclas K&L Pick 28 Year (1992)

Distillery: Glenfarclas.

Bottler: Hunter Laing.

Region: Speyside.

Age: 28 Year. Distilled in 1992. Bottled in 2021.

ABV: 46.4%.

Cask Number: HL18087.

Color: 1.2, Chestnut/Oloroso Sherry.

This is the 5th installment of this years’ Christmas Countdown. You can see the 2020 edition here and 2019 edition here.

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Nose: Notes of peach come through, though it is not in the form of fresh fruits. Peach candies, canned peaches, and a bit of something that smells like 2% (a peach-flavored Korean soft drink my brother was obsessed with for ages). There is a bit of maesil (Korean plums/매실) and pear syrup as well.

Palate: It’s really bright and fruity with orchard fruits galore. Notes of peaches, green grapes, bosc pears, and Korean pears all come through strong and there are more fruits that I couldn’t quite pick out beyond these. There’s a hint of grass as well. With a drop of water, this becomes a touch oily but the fruit parade just continues on in all of its deliciousness.

Finish: Not long enough and medium in length. Mixed jolly ranchers and peach rings wrap things up.

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Conclusion: Glenfarclas has always been for me a distillery that is about as reliable as they come. There’s rarely a whisky that disappoints, though perhaps you don’t often find whiskies that are real stand outs all too often from them. This pick for K&L does seem to fall in that fairly well. It is quite good, no doubt about it, but perhaps is missing a little bit to make it truly remarkable. The nose teases that you’re about to get a bunch of fruity notes and the palate really does deliver on that with a slew of orchard fruits. All of this is tasty, but I was left wanting a little more of some other kind of element, even a bit of malt coming through perhaps would have done it, to really make this amazing and special. Make no mistake, I’d be very happy to have one of these in my collection as it is quite tasty, particularly when you want something a bit lighter.

Final Score: 84.

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Scotch Whisky Review #340, Speyside Review #126, Whisky Network Review #490

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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 (if feasible).
• 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.