Glenfarclas Private Reserve

When he bought (for £512!) the Glenfarclas distillery (officially founded in 1836) from a neighbouring farmer in 1865, little did John Grant suspect that his descendants would carry on his legacy to this day. What is certain is that there is something formidable about Glenfarclas. It is one of the last distilleries to use only ex-Oloroso sherry casks to age its single malts, and one of the last to heat its stills by flame (a few attempts at steaming in 1981 proved too much for the Glenfarclas character). It supplies almost no blends or independent bottlers. It owns some of the most important stock of mature whisky and boasts an evaporation rate which is the envy of many Scots (only 0.05%, against 2.5% on average). Glenfarclas was the first distillery to release a whisky from the barrel on a regular basis. Last but not least: year after year, the Glenfarclas malts are consistently outstanding.