Sometimes the Laings are confident in their secret Speyside distillery's single casks, naming them Speyside's Finest, but sometimes they're less sure, offering qualifiers such as "Probably", "Possibly", "Plausibly", and "Perhaps", as with today's whisky, named Probably Speyside's Finest. Is there a code here or are all of these whiskies of the 'Farclas sort? I really don't know, and I'm not the biggest fan of distilleries who forbid the usage of their names on their own malts bottled by independents.
Hunter Laing bottled this refill barrel for their Old & Rare series, slinging it exclusively through California's K&L Wine Merchants during the peak Covid months. It still sold through as its price was very reasonable for a 28yo.
Region: Speyside (Central)
Series: Old & Rare
(from a bottle split)
NOTES
Orange blossoms and orange oil lead the nose, followed by a little bit of wood smoke and caramel sauce. The smoke shifts towards an earthiness, the oranges to yellow peaches, and the orange blossoms to roses.
Lychees and limes mix with smoke chiles on the palate. Mangoes meet subtle tannin. After 45-ish minutes more toasted oak spices and a hint of savoriness appear.
Truffle salt and black pepper make up much of the finish, with quieter notes of mango and smoke linger behind.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
Because I normally find bourbon cask unnamed-Glenfarclases to be underwhelming, this cask was a nice surprise. I'm not sure where the smoke comes from, but it plays well with the fruit and oak. Tannins never take over, nor does the sweetness. It's a good, balanced Speyside single malt with some oomph. If you're searching for a sherried Glenfarclas, look elsewhere.
Availability - Sold out
Pricing - it was $179.99
Rating - 87
