Glenfarclas 40 Year Old

Please note that the picture shown is not the bottle I reviewed. My Glenfarclas 40 year old is not a limited edition, it is a part of the standard range and the bottle and label look just like the rest of the range.

updated :)

Awesome, thank you.

@Dellnola, yeah, I've had a sample of this one,too. It is indeed very flavourful and complex in a great way. Really delightful!

This sounds like an incredible dram...based on reviews and general regard for their overall product line, would it be out of line to suggest that Glenfarclas could be the best overall Scottish distillery, both for what appears to be consistently well regarded bottlings, as well its seemingly high value price structure? As a comparison, Ardbeg would seem to be comparable for their consistent high quality along its' entire line of bottlings, but their pricing seems to be higher than Glenfarclas. Just a thought for discussion...

Lovely review, as always, @Dellnola. I've wanted to taste the older Glenfarclases (Glenfarcli?) for some time, but haven't found an opportunity yet.

@Pudge72, obviously there's going to be considerable debate about this. I think Glenfarclas is highly regarded as a distillery that does one thing very, very well. Their products are consistently good, and amazingly well priced. That said, I suspect many would find certain other distilleries—Ardbeg, as you mention, may well be one—to make a superior product, and with greater versatility at that. (Just look at the review scores on Connosr for evidence of this: www.connosr.com/popular/). Moreover, how one integrates price into the equation is bound to be a function of the size of one's wallet (among other things); this is why some of us are adamant about keeping price separate from quality in judgements of whisky.

I totally agree with your points @dbk...The new discussion thread hopefully will be a nice place for people to state the merits of various distilleries.

As you may agree, I have no use for having the scoring/rating of individual bottles be affected by perceived value (as pricing and budget can wildly fluctuate from one jurisdiction to another, and from one person to another), any sort of 'value' statement should be just that, as an addendum to tasting notes. My statement was to look at the combination, in a general, across-the-board/big picture, sense, of different factors to debate which distillery acheives the highest regard for their all-around operations and execution.

In that regard, my perception is that Glenfarclas is more consistently cited as marrying high quality with a comparatively lower priced product. Your point about someone like Ardbeg having a more diversified range of offerings, while maintaining high quality, is very well taken as a topic of consideration and debate.

...sorry, I wish we could edit/correct posts. The middle of the 2nd paragraph should read "...to another). Any sort of 'value'..." Hopefully that makes a little more sense.

Good review... the nose on this whisky is to die for, it really opens up the longer you leave it... i could sit and sniff all night long, then just when it cant get any better you get to drink it yum yum......