Glenfarclas 40 y.o.
46% abv
Score: 92.5/100
Glenfarclas rocked the whisky world a few years back when they released this stunner of a 40 year old whisky for an absolutely lowball price (less than $500 a bottle). Kinda made us all stop and question the recent antics of a couple other distilleries that keep jacking prices and marketing their wares as the next uber-whisky. Won’t name names, but I imagine you know who they are.
Glenfarclas has always been a personal favorite whisky. High quality output, traditional and old school presentation and great price point. From young to old, the distillery’s whisky is quite good. The older releases though – especially the family casks – can be quite the stunners. Fortunately for us Glenfarclas is sitting on a brilliant stock of very mature whisky. We should be able to see older releases from this family-run Speyside distillery for ages to come.
Generally with Glenfarclas, it’s expected you’ll get a very balanced, heavily sherried malt. Caramel and spice-rich, with loads of chololate and raisin. As a general profile…it’s a delight. A great building block to build upon through years of maturation.
So the question is…what does 40 years of aging do to a whisky like this? Will it be too much? Over-oaked? Bitter? Nah…not a chance. This is a highlight whisky. One of the best ‘Farclas I’ve tasted to date.
Nose: Deep and rich. Some caramel and Glossette Raisins. Beautiful threads of vibrant jammy notes. Some orange and cherry. Paint. Wow…what a striking balance. Nearly flawless.
Palate: Sweet and juicy. Again…those macerated fruit/jammy notes. Some chocolate. Some tobacco. Some licorice.
This is truly a textbook example of well-aged mature sherried whisky. Beautiful integration of all elements.
– Reviewed by: Curt
– Photo: Curt
All Things Whisky 
I chose Glenfarclas 40 year old to be my valentine for 2020, so here’s to you my love, my sweetheart … Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, I’m so Happy when I drink you.
Unfortunately I’ve been imbibing on my last bottle of the 46% ABV in the paper tin container thinking I could get a replacement at the old gift price of around $500 Canadian. The new reality is it’s still a good price at around $1,000 plus Canadian but the ABV has been reduce to 43% ABV.
The cool new packaging is in a wooden box with a red door that recreates the iconic Glenfarclas warehouse doors, but here’s the rub, in Scotland owners would paint their front door red to signify that they had paid off their mortgage, so WTF shouldn’t the price be going down since the mortgage is paid off specially after 180 years of production at Glenfarclas, butt whatever I will not lose faith that the ABV will be back up and the price might moderate a little, even if it’s still the best old value malt out there. So to you GeorgeFarclas an Irish Blessing … He who loses money, loses much; He who loses a friend, loses more; And he who loses faith, loses all.