Glenfarclas 190th Anniversary - 70cl/51.4%

Distillery History:
Glenfarclas was licensed in 1836 at Ballindalloch, Speyside, and remains with the sixth-generation Grant family. It still uses direct-fired stills, dunnage warehouses and Oloroso butts from a family bodega in Jerez. The Anniversary Trilogy runs 175, 185 and this 190. Distillery manager Callum Fraser and managing director Douglas Belford picked the casks by hand, without modern blending software.

Whisky Introduction:
Seventy-eight casks span fruity 1970s spirit, rich 1980s–90s sherry, and 2000s toffee-caramel, closed with 2014 spirit after Fraser changed the yeast and brought in green apple. 51.4% matches the 90 British proof used for the first 154 years. Non-chill-filtered, no added colour. The tube reprints historic labels. Versus the 185th at 46%, this is stronger and deeper across decades—an anniversary vatting, not a core age-statement.

Tasting Notes:
Nosing: Green apple, sherry sweetness and spicy Christmas cake.
Palate: Smooth, rich and velvety—dried fruit, toffee and warm spice.
Finish: Long, with dark chocolate and fresh tobacco.