Glenfarclas Single Cask for Culinaris Hungary  10 yo 57% - review

05/06/2024

Welcome Ladies & Gentlemen! Today we are taking a look at a very special Single Cask bottling from Glenfarclas. This whisky was bottled for the 10th anniversary of Culnaris Hungary in 2013. With that said, it was distilled in 2003 and then it matured in a first fill sherry hogshead for 10 years. Then it was of course bottled at 57% ABV cask strength. Only 330 bottles were produced. This whisky sold like hot cakes back in the day and it still appears on the secondary market every now and then for double the price it was sold for. No surprise, it is very limited very tasty and has a hungarian connection, people love it.

About the distillery

Glenfarclas distillery is a Speyside whisky distillery in Ballindalloch, Scotland. Glenfarclas translates as meaning valley of the green grass. The distillery is owned and run by the Grant family. It has six stills which are the largest on Speyside and are heated directly by gas burners.

Glenfarclas traditionally matures in Sherry casks. This core theme wasn't changed even though Sherry casks have become more and more expensive. The range of Single Malts is wide and lasts from 10 year old Whiskies to a 40 year old release as I've said from novice to seasoned.

The distillery has a production capacity of around 4 million litres of spirit per year. Normally four stills are used for production with two kept in reserve.

The core range consists of the NAS Glenfarclas heritage, the 8-10-12-15-17-21-25-30-40 and 50 year old bottlings as well as a cask strength bottle that is called the 105 and is bottled at 60% alcohol by volume. Lots of age statements. It's nice to see.

In 2007 Glenfarclas launched The Family Casks, a collection of single cask bottlings, with one from every yearfrom 1952. This collection now extends to the early 2010s but the distillery no longer has stock of casks from 1952 and 1953.

The distillery has approximately 68,000 casks maturing on site, in traditional dunnage warehouses, with stock from every year from 1953 to the current year. Glenfarclas produce a traditional Highland malt with a heavy sherry influence.

Dunnage warehouses are the traditional warehouse, low in height with thick walls and an earthen floor. Inside, casks are stacked on their sides, no more than three barrels high in stows (rows) which helps to ensure good air circulation and an even maturation throughout. The earthen floor means a dunnage warehouse is naturally humid with minimal seasonal weather variance in Scotland, the climate inside the warehouse remains constant over daily and yearly cycles. This high humidity and constant temperature results in all casks across the warehouse maturing at a consistent rate, being influenced by the humid conditions created by the surrounding soil.

There are three wash stills and three spirit stills at Glenfarclas. First distillation in the wash still leads to 23% ABV. Second distillation will approximately deliver 4.000 liters with 68% ABV.

The pot stills of Glenfarclas are directly fired with gas, which is a very traditionally method. Rummagers, which are revolving chains, are there to make sure that there's no residue burning in at the bottom of the stills.

The mashtun of Glenfarclas is one of the biggest in the Scottish Whisky industry with a diameter of 10 meters and can pick up about 16.5 tons. The whole progress of mashing takes about 11 to 12 hours - this includes cleaning as well.

When the wort is cooled down it is pumped into the 12 washbacks of Glenfarclas that have a capacity of 45.000 liters each and are made of stainless steel. The cultured distillers' yeast is added in a ratio of 1% and ferments for about 50 hours. When fermentation ends the resulting wash has an alcohol content of about 8 % ABV. 

Glenfarclas 2003-2013 Single Cask bottled for Culinaris Hungary 1 out of 330 - Natural Color, Non-chill filtered, 57%

Nose: Quite a powerful nose. Starts off with a very dry and very dusty note, almost like a book that hasn't been opened for decades. Then we get a tiny bit of acidity from the sherry cask. As one would expect, the sherry immediately fills your nose. Dried fruits such as prunes, dates and raisins. A hint of colombian espresso with a slice of peruvian triple chocolate cake. A very distant note of dry oak and sweet malt. Then red fruits start to come out. Redcurrants, raspberry and strawberry. It's very interesting and very complex. It has three layers in my opinion. The first one that you gotta get through is very dry and dusty, then comes the second layer with the typical sherry notes and a bit of sourness carried by the espresso and oak and then the third layer is a huge fruitiness that brings sweetness to the whisky making it a very whole and balanced experience. Sweet & sour. Lovely.

Taste: Since the nose was so good, we have very high expectations right? Right. It's very thick, almost syrupy. It's also very oily, coats the the glass very nicely. There is no bite. 0. Nada. It tastes more mature than it actually is. Very heavy sherry influence. You get tons of grapes, raisins, figs, prunes, dates and caramelized dark oranges. A hint of oak followed by spices such as cardamom, cinnamon and allspice. Fruitcake. Milk chocolate and espresso. Sweet malt and vanilla. Strawberries and raspberries. I can't taste any acidity so that's great. The distillery character is hidden. The sherry cask took over. It must have been a very active cask. It's very sweet, to some it may be overly sweet. It's a sherry bomb but it's not a modern sherry bomb. It has the profile of an older whisky and not these new seasoned sherry cask bombs. If I had describe this whisky in one expression it would be: Christmas in a glass.

Finish: Very long and warm. It leaves a very sweet taste in the mouth. Dried fruits but also fresh forest fruits. Sweet malt, espresso and chocolate cake. Balanced.

Overall I think this is a very successful bottling. However it fails to capture the Glenfarclas DNA. The sherry cask completely took over and dominates this whisky. It's a sherry bomb. Some people will like it, some people will hate it. I am sure most of the bottles were already finished since it was out on the market 11 years ago. I still have one around and I know a few people who have bottles of this whisky. I definitely think it's nice that some stores create their own single cask bottling for anniversaries or even to other events. I would love if more stores did this in Hungary. This whisky scores very high on my list 91 / 100. If you can taste it!

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Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. To many more. Sláinte.