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Glenfarclas Whisky & Wisdom Edition 2 (2008 Single Cask 10 Year Old). Speyside, Scotland. ABV: 59.8%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ (sample courtesy of Whisky & Wisdom).
Following on from Whisky & Wisdom’s first foray into bespoke bottling of a Glenfarclas in 2016, comes this second edition. Fellow Sydney-sider, self-described whisky tragic and the man behind one of my favourite whisky blogs (Whisky & Wisdom), Andrew Derbidge has hand selected this 10 year old single cask at the Glenfarclas distillery which yielded just 319 bottles at its natural cask strength of 59.8%. What a terrible way to spend an afternoon…sampling cask after cask of delicious whisky!
At the time, I rated the Glenfarclas Whisky & Wisdom 9 Year Old Single Cask as one of my top 10 whiskies I’ve ever had, hands down. Nothing has changed that opinion, it was a mesmerising whisky. Can the Glenfarclas Whisky & Wisdom Edition 2 live up to its elder sibling’s lofty standards? Let’s find out.
Colour: Deep honeycomb.
Nose: Juicy raisins, golden syrup, melting butter, and fresh leather. More time in the glass yields earthy almost musty notes with the rich undercurrent of dried sultanas.
Palate: A rich oily mouthfeel to start, with flavours and sensations like biting into orange and cherry chocolate liqueurs. Later sips seem to be like your tongue has wandered into a spice market – there’s a barrage of rich flavours competing for your attention. Orange toffee crisps, dried cranberries, cinnamon and dry cocoa powder.
Finish: Treacle, white pepper, cinnamon, cloves and a slightly prickly spice. A long gentle warmth with a drying mouthfeel and surprising slightly salty tang to finish.
Comments: It takes you on a journey this one, it simply demands your attention. It’s not your typical sherry bomb, there’s a lot more complexity and spice.
So how does it stack up to the first edition of Glenfarclas Whisky & Wisdom? They’re both quite different beasts, as you might expect for single cask whiskies despite sharing much of the same Glenfarclas DNA. Edition 1 was more akin to your typical Glenfarclas sherry bomb, whereas Edition 2 has an air of mystery and has a multi-layered personality. There’s just so many things to explore here – light and dark, sweetness and spice…your tastebuds are racing to keep up with the barrage of flavours popping around your mouth, as your mind gallops to keep up.
It’s not in my top 10 whiskies of all time like Edition 1, but geez it’s a tasty bit of juice and a very interesting expression of Glenfarclas. I’d be very interested to compare both editions of the Glenfarclas Whisky & Wisdom side by side (perhaps Andrew should organise a tasting!) but in the meantime I’ll be grabbing a couple of bottles of this before they are gone forever.
Great write up, Todd! Love your observations and tasting notes. Yes, the two W&W editions are quite different from one another. For me, personally, whilst they’re both incredible whiskies, I prefer the nose of Edition 1, but the palate and finish of Edition 2.
Should also mention that there’s still plenty of bottles available for sale at http://www.whiskyandwisdom.com, and it’s also available by the dram at Archie Rose in Sydney and Whisky + Alement in Melbourne.
Thanks AD! Some of my favourite whiskies have actually been where I’ve found the nose more amazing than the palate and finish…something I would’ve thought was a crazy notion if I’d been told that when I first started my whisky journey!