Glenfarclas 1962 -1965 OB v IB 40-46 years old

[lincoln imp]

Tasted in this order.

OB -1962 46 year 46 year 52% cask 2647 Family Casks Release III
IB - 1963 40 year Blairfindy 52.3% cask 5 Blackadder
IB - 1964 40 year Rechlerich 53.5% Sherry Butt 1578 Norse Cask Selection
OB -1965 41 year 60% Sherry Butt 3861 Family Casks

Result
1 - by a landslide the 1964 Rechlerich Norse Cask
2 - Blairfindy 1963
3 - OB 1965
4 - OB 1962

The OB were noticeably past their sell by date and the 62 was pretty awful, the Blaifindy was nice and the Norse Cask was on another planet, its balance and complexity were some of the best I have had.

Tasting notes below in order of tasting:-

OB -1962 46 year 46 year 52% cask 2647 Family Casks Release III
Nose
A full basket of dark fruits mixing with really rich sherry leather and polish.
Breaking it down you get fig prune, dark ripe plums, red apple skins, blackberry then a little cinnamon, red currant jelly, pomegranate, hint of blueberry, old satchel leather and faint shoe polish with a distant wood note but the fruit and sherry dominate.
After a few minutes a jam sponge cake note emerges.

Taste
it is like licking an old plank of wood what a let down, the oak has swamped everything else,
The fruit does break out as does some peat but the oak is hampering any progress the fruit can make.
The only fruit I can detect is a little blackberry and hints offered currant and something like old mulled wine.
Gets really syrupy and the peat seems to increase but the wood is shouting at me.
Maybe a few drops of water will improve things?

Finish
Neat the finish is a good length with a little orange and blackberry note but it is very dry, almost cloying.

With water:-
Water has released a cardboard note , the fruit is still subdued.
Palate - Ah now then there is some improvement with some nice spice coming out and fruit peels plus a hint of sugared almond but there is also a woody leathery taste, so an improvement but not enough.
The finish is wood, wood, and leather but some sweetness does escape eventually.

A classic case of the one that got away, it is such a shame when a great sherried whisky has gone over a cliff edge, was no person in the distillery testing this one periodically. In my very humble opinion if this had been bottled 5-7 years earlier it would I am sure been lovely but this has not just turned from the wood, it has run off.
The oak has destroyed it, if you like licking wood for very high price this whisky is for you.
The nose is by far the best part but for an accurate score I will take the averages of the taste & finish so around 68.
This is a disaster and such a waste, who was checking this cask?

IB - 1963 40 year Blairfindy 52.3% cask 5 Blackadder
Nose
A vibrant sherried nose that is all on dark plums, fig and dates with hints of blueberry,
Some blackberry then emerges there is also a lovely coffee and sweet tobacco note.
A good nose.

Taste
The dark fruits are well and truly stewed with a heavy pastry note (well done pastry that is almost burnt).
You have to concentrate with this one because the oak is definitely there but there is a really nice sweet mincemeat note mixed with blackberry/damson jam which brings it back from the edge.
The bitterness from the oak is there but there is enough dark fruit to compensate with a little peat and pepper plus a faint hint of mulled red wine.
What makes this composed is the fact that is is very juicy, I like that.

Finish
Good medium length, with a constant bitter sweet battle that is almost a score draw the hint of red currant wins it for me.

With water:-
I think a few drops of water have improved the nose with some tobacco smoke, no off notes , great.
Yes, water has released more fruit and bucket loads of spice and livened things up, yes there is some oak and it is not a good thing but the fruit and spice keep it check thankfully
Finish still of good length but getting a little woody

A grumbling old sherry monster that was bottled just in time.
It is a good one.

IB - 1964 40 year Rechlerich 53.5% Sherry Butt 1578 Norse Cask Selection
Nose
Old books, old leather, quite a closed nose so we will need water with this one.
Air improves this so you have to give it a few minutes, this has another layer of complexity that the 62 OB & 63 Blairfindy didn't that preceded this one.
It is wonderfully composed without being particularly expressive.
Smoked ham, smoke, blackcurrant Jelly, prune juice, ginger cake but not overly ginger or anything so I suppose moist sponge cake of the dark variety would suffice.
Biscuit notes emerge, not much sherry on the nose, strange?

Taste
My tongue is dripping, this is so juicy your tongue goes limp.
but not particularly flavoursome, difficult to put into words.
A basket of dark fruit, a healthy dollop of peat with dark and spice with dark plums and fruit jams in the mix , what is good is that any oak has been kept to minimum bot so much by the fruit but by the perfect balance on show which is of the highest quality.

Finish
Long finish, refined, fruity and spicy

With water :-
A little polish comes in now with red wine gums, superb,
The palate is very spicy now all on pepper with full bodied red wine, huge crisp sherry, perfect balance.
The finish is lip smacking & juicy

To say I had high hopes for this one is the understatement of the year, it is like saying the Lamborghini Muira is a nice looking car, you get the picture.
The most impressive thing here is the balance on show, the sum of the parts add up/
What a great cask selection by NC, bravo.
The best GF I have had for some time, if you like sherry, I doubt you will fins better than this.

OB -1965 41 year 60% Sherry Butt 3861 Family Casks
Nose
Quite light and fruity which surprises me as it is obviously quite dark in colour.
Plenty of red fruit on show and darker fruits like blackberry but also blueberry and damson, almost floral.
I really like this nose

Taste
There is certainly more peat than I was expecting and I thought the fruit the nose suggested would be here but alas the wood is the foremost taste, why are Glenfarclas obsessed with letting old cask turn, it makes no sense to me?
Lets persevere, the peat is there, some forest fruits but the wood is there and spoiling the party.

Finish
Quite a long spicy finish and also drying which is no surprise at this age.

With Water:-
The nose has changed little but there is much more spice on the palate and it has goy slightly ashy peat wise

I am trying this after the 64 Rechlerich Norse Cask so a real class act to follow.
And this falls flat on its face in comparison, yes I know its old and you can expect some oak but what you want is balance and lip smacking flavours at this price and it is not there,
Not a bad aged GF but far from spectacular.
I will score it at 83 , the nose would inflate the score too much but the nose is a good one, it is all downhill from there.
_________________
Pour me a glass please.