Glenfarclas 50 Year Old is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky from the Glenfarclas Distillery at Ballindalloch, released to mark fifty years in the whisky industry for the distillery’s chairman, John Grant. It was matured for half a century in sherry casks and bottled at 50% ABV. Only 836 bottles were released worldwide, each in an engraved Glencairn crystal decanter within a presentation case.

The spirit was distilled and laid down in the late 1960s, when John Grant’s father, George Grant, ran the distillery. It was selected for bottling by Distillery Manager Callum Fraser and Managing Director Douglas Belford.

Glenfarclas 50 Year Old Tasting Notes

• Nose: Marzipan, almond and cedar, with a delicate wisp of smoke.
• Palate: Stewed apple, dark chocolate and toffee, with deep oak and sherried richness.
• Finish: Long and refined, with layers of fruit, spice and a subtle smokiness.

Which Glenfarclas 50?

Glenfarclas has released more than one 50 year old. This bottling, at 50% ABV and limited to 836 bottles, commemorates John Grant’s fifty years in whisky. It is distinct from the 2015 Glenfarclas 50 Year Old, the third release in the Family Collector Series, bottled at 41.1% in a black leather box. It is also distinct from the single-cask 50 year olds in The Family Casks range.

Glenfarclas

Glenfarclas was established in 1836 at the foot of Ben Rinnes and bought by John Grant in 1865. It has been owned and run by the Grant family ever since, now in its sixth generation, and is one of the few independent family-owned distilleries left in Scotland. Its whiskies are matured in sherry casks, and its stills are direct-fired, an old method few distilleries still use. Because the family has kept stock from every year since the 1950s, Glenfarclas is able to release whiskies of an age few distilleries can match.