Glenfarclas 1953 63 Year Old Pagoda Sapphire

Glenfarclas 1953 63 Year Old Pagoda

• Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
• Distillery Bottling

70cl / 45.7%

To begin with, A 1953 Glenfarclas single malt from the distillery’s Pagoda series, Sapphire Reserve has been matured for more than six decades before bottling. Rich aromas of coffee, dark chocolate, blackberries and gooseberries mingle with clove, nutmeg and candied orange on the nose. The palate offers notes of clove-studded orange, sherried plums and raisins and rich Christmas spices that linger in the finish.

Meanwhile, Colour: teak. Nose: cherry flavoured cough medicine, rye bread, cinnamon bark, dried geraniums, tar extract. Quite a departure from the previous ones. A big, emphatic sooty earthiness, soy sauce, peppered beef jerky, turmeric and even some farmy hints of bailed hay and straw. Quite impressive. In time there’s also crispy bacon and boot polish. With water: not a huge sea change. More of a gentle drift towards strawberry jam, a little mocha, plum crumble and darjeeling tea. The earthiness takes on a fibrous edge as well – almost like old rope and hessian cloth. Glenfarclas 1953 63 Year Old Pagoda Sapphire

Additionally, Mouth: cherry liqueurs, spiced cassis, star anise, five spice, strong miso broth, young madeira, clotted cream with strawberries and red current puree. There’s also these big, intense herbal notes such that nod towards Jägermeister and Unicum. With water: cherry cola syrup, birch beer, lime cordial, dates, prune juice, walnut liqueur, various shades of dried herbs. The meatiness is still present but it’s more muttony now.

Finish: long, deeply earthy and treading a tightrope between bitter herbal extracts, dry earth, black pepper, strong dark teas and chocolate. Rather impressively it never manages to succumb too far in any one direction but keeps its head. Comments: Impressive I have to say. It lacked the woodiness of the 02 and possessed something more complex, charming and a few more interesting shades of fruit, enough to propel it into another league in my book. An excellent sherry monster and a perfect one to finish this marathon run of Family Casks on.