22/05/2026 Glenfarclas

Glenfarclas 12yo (45%, OB for F.W. Hempel Metallurgical GmbH): nose: fruity and very dry, it shifts between hay and dried grapefruit peels. The latter take the upper hand, and even gain moisture, after a moment. Not much, but better than nothing. We catch droplets of grapefruit juice or grapefruit oil. Then, those same grapefruit peels receive the wine treatment: wine-cured grapefruit peels it is, rich and heady. It has a faint smell of an old blend (ye aulde blende); not in a dusty-cardboard way -- more a generic, old-school roughness, almost vinegary, though, of course, not that extreme. One may be tempted to call it briny, but there is no salt whatsoever. It goes back to fruity tones anyhoo, now closer to pressed currants. The second nose has a pile of wood, twigs, really, ready for the fire, slowly crumbling to dust. Last is a glass of heated flat cheap cola. Mouth: old school alright! This was bottled at a time when only a certain demographic would order a Scotch: men of a certain age, mostly smokers. Stale barley syrup, caramel and toffee, cardboard, tobacco oil... Chewing simply increases all that. It is intensely faded orange, a colour inextricably linked to 1970s curtains completely impregnated with tobacco smoke. It has a hint of peppermint at the top, but stale Mokatine is soon the dominant. Oh! and some ashes too. In fact, we have the content of an ashtray in which someone spilled half-a-glass of water. Counterintuitively, that presents a certain charm. The second sip may be a tad brighter, less orange, more yellow, with fresher grapefruits and even pineapple. Tobacco is still present, if more discreet. Finish: stale Mokatine all the way! Dusty caramel on cardboard, oily tobacco, wine-stained dried orange peels, ginger powder, cinnamon powder, ground cloves. It does not come across as overly woody, yet there is an undeniable wood influence at play. A wood-panelled smoking room with faded curtains. No-one is smoking at the moment, but last night's ashtray has not yet been emptied and the fireplace needs a clean. Retro-nasal olfaction gives us a whiff of cigar. Not so much the smoke or the leaves; more the smell that coats the walls of the mouth. Cigar breath, in other words. Genuinely an old geezer's dram. The second gulp plays a soft bitterness against the fruity acidity. Bay leaves or cigar leaves -- definitely cigar leaves, in fact, with a lick of stale Mokatine for good measure. I find this less convincing than on the night; a bit generic. It grows on me, however, and I could go to 8 on another day. 7/10