[Review] Glenfarclas - 21 years old 43%

Before starting with today's whisky, I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year, hoping 2018 is full of good things for us all! I would also like to thank you for following my whisky journey on the blog as well as on my Instagram page @themaltcask. My resolution for this year is fewer bottles but more from independent bottlers and older ones if I can!

So let's start the first post of the year with a slightly older whisky from a distillery I have not really reviewed on the blog: Glenfarclas and its 21 year-old single malt. Glenfarclas have got quite a following as it is one of the only distilleries in Scotland still family run. They also focus essentially on ex-Sherry casks for the maturation of their single malt and these casks are laid to rest in one of their 28 on-site warehouses. 

I have tried a few Glenfarclas in the last few years, but none really struck me apart from the 15 years old which I really enjoyed. The 12 wasn't bad, the 105 was okay too but the 2000 vintage bottled for the Whisky shop wasn't to my taste. Now the 21... I actually bought a bottle over a year ago as I came across an offer too good to miss (as you can see from the pictures, it is also packaged with Ian Buxton's 101 World Whiskies to Try Before You Die) but never opened it. However, I got to try it during a tasting at the Whisky Shop Manchester a few weeks ago. The tasting revolved around miniatures rather than full bottles which meant I was able to save a bit to bring back home for reviewing. 

As far as presentation is concerned, Glenfarclas 21 is chill-filtered, natural colour and bottled at 43%. For a 21 year-old whisky, it could have been unchill-filtered and bottled at 46% in my opinion...

Nose: Sweet, dried fruit, chocolate, oak, some citrus too (orange peel) and I even found hints of strawberries.

Palate: Sweet again, caramel and brown sugar hitting your tongue first followed by some spicy notes, bitter orange, dark fruit and barley notes too.

Finish: Quite oaky in my mind, some barley, some citrus notes and bitterness too. Not overly long.

With water: The nose becomes fruitier with less wood and more candied fruit. The palate is also fruitier but still with some spiciness. The finish is warming, sweet and spicy with some nuttiness too. I think I prefer it with a drop of water as the whisky feels rounder on the palate despite the nose being slightly less complex...

Once again, a decent single malt from Glenfarclas, but is it one to blow my mind away? I don't think so. Am I going to open my bottle soon? I actually doubt it and think I would rather buy the 15 and open it as it has left a much greater impression on me than any other Glenfarclas bottles... These are of course just my thoughts and I know people will disagree but this is where I am at with Glenfarclas!