Glenfarclas “Blairfindy” 1965 40 Years Old (Blackadder)
Glenfarclas isn’t too keen on independent bottlers using their name, so the bottlers find creative ways at suggesting the contents of a particular bottling without upsetting the Grant family. Blairfindy is what Blackadder settled on:
Blairfindy is a single malt from the only family owned distillery on Speyside at Marypark, Ballindalloch. For legal reasons we can never put the actual distillery name of this whisky on the label. We use the name Blairfindy because this is the name of the farm that the owning family, the Grants, came from. They are historically referred to as the “Blairfindy Grants.”
Glenfarclas “Blairfindy” 1965 40 Years Old (51.7%, Blackadder, C#1850)
Nose: Fairly waxy with a good amount of damp wood and earthiness, as well as sweet orange juice, honey, and quince. Somewhat dusty as well, but also some nice dark forest fruits. A whisper of sweaty yellow cheese, to complicate matters a bit.
Taste: Somewhat dry and aggressive. Tannins and dark spices, mainly cracked black peppercorns. Molasses and espresso notes. Slightly bitter, but a proper oily mouthfeel. Also, there’s room for a hint of raspberries, elderflower and orange.
Finish: Lingering burnt caramel and tannins. Medium to long.
Score: 89
Not perfect, but not too shabby either. Pretty taken by it overall, but not enough to reach that magical 90 point threshold.
Thijs is a spirits writer and accredited liquorist from The Netherlands. He runs the blog Words of Whisky and contributes to a number of Dutch and international publications.
Hello Thijs, I own two Glenfarclas bottled by Cadenhead. Do you know why they are allowed to use the distillery name and not Blackladder?
Thanks!
I’m not sure of the exact details, but I know there’s some sort of agreement that allows Cadenhead’s to bottle 2 or 3 Glenfarclas’ a year.