Here’s one for those who complain that I don’t review enough entry-level whisky. That said, I don’t think the Glenfarclas 8 is available in the US. I can’t remember seeing it, at any rate. Then again I haven’t looked for younger Glenfarclas for some time now. For what it’s worth, it doesn’t show up for the US market on Winesearcher either and nor does it seem to be available in the UK. It does seem to be widely available all over Europe and not for very much money. So it’s got that going for it. I’m mostly interested to see the progression from it to the 10 and 12 yo and from there to the 15 yo and 18 yo (this one’s Europe-only too, I think) and the 21 yo. I acquired most of these together in a bottle split some time ago (the 15 yo I’ve had many times before but I’ll probably buy another bottle for regular drinking in London). But let’s start with the 8 yo and see how it goes. I assume that, as with most Glenfarclas, this is from sherry casks of one kind or the other—but I could well be wrong.
Glenfarclas 8 (40%; from a bottle split)
Nose: A big hit of orange with a faint metallic note; gets hard candy’ish fast. Very fresh, very pleasant. With more time it gets sweeter (honey?). Maltier with water.
Palate: Well, basically a watery version of the above. Not very much happening here but it’s drinkable enough. The orange expands a bit with time (and maybe there’s some apricot in there too now). That metallic note from the nose expands as well. Interestingly, a few drops of water push the metallic note back.
Finish: Medium. Sweet with the metallic note turning into oaky bite at the end. Water pushes the bitter notes back here as well.
Comments: After the nose, which I quite liked, the palate was a bit of a letdown. Despite the low strength it actually seemed to improve with a few drops of water. And I will say it pairs nicely with dark chocolate. Well, I guess it’s decent, entry-level whisky but I’m not sure I’d recommend it to someone looking for one.
Rating: 78 points.
Hi there,
there is a NAS Glenfarclas called “Heritage” – pronounced without the H of course – which was said to be 8 yo. I always think that Heritage and Glenfarclas 8yo are the same stuff and I always get a youngish yeasty and mashy impression on the nose from both.
It is not bad as a youngster the 8yo especially when you compare it to even younger German single malts for much more money.
But it is no match for the Glenfarclas 10yo which only two years older is a perfekt “mature” whisky in its own right.
Greetings
kallaskander
Heritage is for the French market I forgot to say.
They certainly release a lot of expressions: Heritage, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25, 30, 40 + the 105 and all the Family Casks. And I’m probably forgetting others.
There is a Glenfarclas 17 as well.
Right—you’d think I’d remember that considering I’ve actually reviewed it!
I give Glenfarclas credit for telling the paying customer what they’re buying – customer flim-flaming HAS become the order of the day – but it really isn’t much of a surprise that reduced age and strength (distillery resources that, along with honesty, are currently being severely rationed at large) don’t result in anything all that memorable. It shakes one’s faith in the ability of producers to suddenly invent new whisky physics out of thin air and hype… but such are the times.
Still, honesty IS the first step in market correction, and Glenfarclas should be lauded in this regard.
Yes, and also for their pricing which continues to be generally very reasonable. This 8 yo seems to go for not much more than 20 euros, for example. And the 25 yo is still easily found for <$150 in the US. Which other "name" distillery offers anything similar?
Good point – Glenfarclas’ idea of pricing/value IS much more fair than a lot of the competition.
Hi there,
together with Tomatin Glenfarclas are one of the few whisky companies which try to stay on terra firma and not to stray into cloud cuckoo land with every new release.
When they released their 40yo some 5-6 years ago ist was 260.- € here. I met George Grant at the Limburg whisky fair and said to him “With the price for this release you must have annoyed many of your whisky collegues a great deal”. He smiled.
“That was the general idea” he replied.
I hope they will keep that spirit for a long time.
Greetings
kallaskander
I see that the official Glenfarclas website does not list this 8 yo in their lineup. Was it only a limited issue? I also see that the 18 yo (which I’ll post a review of in a few weeks) is a travel retail exclusive, not an EU release.
Hi there,
you are right, the 8yo is not on their page nor the 18 yo which is a litre bottle and travel retail exclusive. But you can get the 18 yo easily at most spirits retailers over here.
The 8 yo was probably an afterthought after the Heritage spread from France to the neigbouring countries. I can imagine that after their attempt at NAS with the Multi Vintage Trilogy Passion Springs and Team they were fed up with NAS – the only other general availble NAS was the jubilee bottling of Glenfarclas £511.19s.0d Family Reserve.
The 8 yo is drinkable but compered to the rest of the range not a revelation.
Greetings
kallaskander
The 18 yo is actually on the page I listed above, as a travel retail exclusive.
Hi there,
so I see. Must be pretty recent.
Greetings
kallaskander