Glenfarclas malt nothing to grouse about

Family-owned Speyside distillery Glenfarclas is marking Sunday’s Glorious Twelfth and the opening of the UK grouse season with the release of a limited edition single malt.

Only 4,000 bottles of the 20-year-old version of Glenfarclas 105, the company’s cask strength bottling, will be released on global allocation, with the malt described as a perfect dram to relax with after an exhilarating day on the moors.

In a typically colourful tasting note, sales director George Grant likens the whisky to “the end bit of a Christmas cake – a little drier than the middle, but you get the extra sugar; remarkably smooth for a 60% whisky”.

Claimed as the first commercially available cask strength whisky of the modern age, Glenfarclas 105 has been produced by the Grants since 1968, when George Grant’s grandfather sent bottles from a single, 60% abv (105 proof) cask to family and friends.

Originally an 8-year-old malt, it has been bottled at 10 years old since 1989, with a 40-year-old edition bottled in 2008 to mark its 40th anniversary.

Glenfarclas 105 20 Years Old has an anticipated retail price of £200 for a 70cl bottle. UK enquiries to Pol Roger Ltd, email [email protected].