Glenfarclas… sounds like a cussing in Gaelic, doesn’t it? Like if someone stole your sheep you might say: "That old Glenfarclas got the flock out of here!" But if you are a fan of Highland Single Malt Whiskies — and Speyside drams at that — then the word Glenfarclas is music to your ears.
In Gaelic, Glenfarclas means "valley of the green grass"… which perfectly describes its Banffshire location. It was founded in 1836 by Robert Hay, but was sold to the famous John Grant in 1865. The Grant family owns and operates the distillery to this day, making it one of the few remaining independent and family-owned distilleries in Scotland. Glenfarclas produces a range of classic Speyside-style Whiskies with a Sherry influence — all of them tasty and popular with the Whisky "in-crowd" [performs secret Scotch-lovers handshake].
The first thing you need to know is that while it is very common to "finish" Single Malt Scotch Whisky in Sherry casks, typically, most of the aging is done in Bourbon casks, and then transferred to the Sherry casks for the final year or so. Don’t get us wrong, we love it when they do and it adds a wonderful flavor profile.
But the blokes at Glenfarclas don’t mess around. Their Single Malt goes immediately into the Oloroso and Fino Sherry casks on day one… and they leave it there for the duration. In this case, Glenfarclas is aged in those wonderfully premium casks for — you've guessed it — 12 years. We looked it up… "blasta" means "tasty" in Gaelic and Glenfarclas 12 Year Old just "blastas" the crap out of it. Buy, pour, drink. Repeat.
What does Glenfarclas 12 Scotch Whisky taste like?
The Flavor Spiral™ shows the most common flavors that you'll taste in Glenfarclas 12 Scotch Whisky and gives you a chance to have a taste of it before actually tasting it.
We invented Flavor Spiral™ here at Flaviar to get all your senses involved in tasting drinks and, frankly, because we think that classic tasting notes are boring.
Dog Dogson's
Smartass Corner
Whisky or Whiskey? The spelling differs geographically. In Scotland, Japan, and some other parts of the world, distilleries usually spell it Whisky; in Ireland and the USA, they spell it Whiskey.
New to the scotch scene, but now having tried several 10-12 years, I can easily say this is my favorite daily drinker so far. It runs the full gambit of sherry, sweet honey, malt with a spicy finish that lingers on the palate. No peat or smoke to speak of. Simply delicious.
Tyler,
N: Green apples, and bright tropical fruit like lychees and melon. Slightly nutty.
P: dry white wine, apricot, mineral, strawberry
F: clean, dry, gentle fruit
This is one of the staple entry level malts on my shelf, one of the better values you can buy and a good introduction to gentle sherried Highland malts.
Nathan,
Oak on the nose, sherry forward palate and a rich, dark finish. Good for dessert.
Pamela,
Terrible, too peaty!!!!
Laurence,
There's no peat in it, so that's surprising!
Jose,
They where not joking when they said sherry bomb, love it
Eric,
I liked this more when I first started drinking scotch. I love the Glenfarclas flavor profile, but sometimes I feel like I need to work pretty hard to recognize it in the 12. Still, an easy drinker that I usually keep on hand.
Paul,
Enjoyable scotch. Good flavor!
David,
Very nice Highland, good for those special occasions with a mixed crowd.
Grant,
My favorite for a sip with some dried fruit and nuts. The complexity of the sweetness is delightful and the Sherry gives it a nice body
Matt,
It's tough for me to give this a 6/10, because by most objective measures, this is a very good whisky. I personally didn't like it, but I'm also not into the heavily sherried Scotches, and that's basically all this is.
To me, this just tasted like it needed a few more years in the barrel. Very alcohol forward. Needed to sit out for a very long time, and even then, the first taste is all alcohol. The finish is very smooth and nice, but overall, I'd go for the 17 year and avoid the 12 altogether.
A classic iteration of Scotch, but one I'd personally avoid.
Bradley,
A good single malt, with no apparent peat or smokey flavor notes.
Chris,
Glenfarclas makes the best sherry matured whisky in the business IMO.
Doug,
Sweet, light sherry, a hint of smoke with oak and vanilla on the finish…good body, slightly oily…sweet nose that is a bit like apple pie to me. Really really good.
Rick,
Nice sherrie speyside! If you're new to scotch...a must try
Mariano,
Very nice and tasty one.
Ken,
Aroma of fruit and leather, smooth and syrup like on the tongue. A flavorful sweet honey at first and a little smoky finish. Very nice.
Drew,
The perfect malt-heavy whisky. Had to let it oxidize a bit to lose some of the gas notes it came with, but once it mellowed it was pure joy. Classic, malty goodness. Normally the malt monsters I've tried come with too much chocolate notes or over-the-top wood notes, but this one lets the barley shine.
Todd,
Smooth. One of my favorites.
Steve,
Speyside calls to me and I will be re-ordering this scotch in the future. Looking forward to visiting Scotland someday and putting this place on my itinerary.
Daniel,
Macallan was my go to until I discovered this. Amazing I recommend it to anyone and everyone.
Martin,
Excellent rich flavor with just a small bite. Wonderful from beginning to end. I sampled this for the 1st time on a flight to Scotland and thoroughly enjoyed it. Will add it to my bar.
eric,
Very good
Jeff,
Very smooth and flavorful. Never had it before, but would buy again!
guest,
Fresh scent of vanilla and honey with a hint of Carmel. Great Speyside scotch.
Enoch,
This is one of my most favorite favorites. Smooth on the tongue, a spicy bite of alcohol at the end, and a long-lasting finish. Both sweet and stout for a perfect-anytime sip.
Charles,
Always smooth from start to finish. Caramelized sugar and pears with hints of vanilla. Slight spice on the finish. My personal favorite (thus far).
guest,
Sweet pears :)
James,
This is one of my favorite Scotches. Smooth, not peaty.
guest,
Not bad but not my favorite of the glenfarclas series.
Dave,
Subtle smokiness. Don't let strong nose fool you. Very subtle flavors and smooth finish.
guest,
Love this scotch my favorite
Christopher,
Smooth on the tongue initially then the spice settles in, the vanilla and caramel stood out right away. Overall, delicious and lucky that it's the first bottle I bought from Flaviar!
guest,
Slightly harsh finish but a great tasting whisky
Ron,
Very smooth and velvety. Beautiful dram
Jeremy,
Good
Cheyne,
Glenfarclas has a knack for creating beautifully consistent Speysiders, and the 12 year old is a solid and beautiful one. I think a better 12 than Macallan, it has dark fruit notes that compliment the chewy mouthfeel giving this 12 some more depth than the Macallan counterpart. Wonderful stuff.
guest,
I dunno. I like me whiskey more of an Irish. Might be worth a try