Glenfarclas 25

Big thanks to /u/Allumina for swapping me this dram and some other Glenfarclas to help round out the distillery.

Glenfarclas 25 is the next extension I’ve done in the Glenfarclas line. Don’t worry, I’ll be jumping back down the line to try the 21 year, and I’m still searching out the 18 year just to be a completionist. Not to mention finally doing the 105 at some point.

You’ve heard it all before. This is the line up that always uses Sherry casks, it’s an affordable malt, and really under appreciated. Well, used to be. The rising costs for it tell me people have clued in. Granted that could also be from a perceived barrel shortage.

I’m being a little bit more serious today as I have suspicions that this particular dram was oxidized on me, or was from a rough batch. I’ll have to let /u/Allumina comment as to if that’s the case. I ensure that I had multiple glass of water, and even had a second taster try this to ensure it wasn’t just me, and so that won’t be the case.

Also I’m in good health.

None the less, here’s my review, and I’ll be aiming to try this again in the future to see if I had a bad sample.

Price: N/A in the LCBO

Region: Speyside

Abv: 43%

Colour: Amber

Nose: Nutmeg, cherry, currant, grapes, lime, basil, burnt BBQ sauce, sandalwood, orange

Really strong nose on this one. Lots of complexity, good measure of the oak coming through. Smells all androgynous and shit, what with the wood and spice mixed with the fruit.

Taste: Oak, vanilla, chemical, strawberry, plum, thyme

The taste is very oaky. Like, super oaky. Like I’m chewing on a piece of oak. Eventually I pick up some other notes, but only after having a beaver’s dinner (and not in the good Montreal way).

Finish: Oak, smoke, grapes, sulfur, mead

I hate when people go on about sulfur. I really, really do. It’s not as bad as some (Jim-bo) make it seem. Sometimes it keeps me up at night. Sometimes I notice it, however it adds a little kick to the finish.

This is where I become my own worst enemy.

Honestly, it was all sulfur. Like licking Cornwall. Or making an omelette with year old eggs. Or going down on… well, you get the point. I couldn’t taste much else, other than a ton of wood, which I don’t like in my mouth (unless you buy me dinner first, at a fancy place).

Conclusion: Either this has oxidized in the bottle, in the sample bottle (the seal wasn’t 100% on), or this is not a good batch. All of these things are possible.

If it is oxidized, goes to show how good this was before hand, as the nose was great.

If not, then I didn’t like something most people raved about. Not the first time, won’t be the last.

I’m betting it has oxidized, and thus I’ll search out another dram to make up for this review.

71/100

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