The 14 Year Old occupies an unusual place in the Glenfarclas catalogue. Released in 2015 as an expression aimed at the United States market, it is bottled at 46% rather than the family's customary 43%, and goes into the bottle without chill filtration. For a distillery normally content to leave well alone, this is a more deliberate piece of presentation.
The increased strength suits the spirit. Glenfarclas has always favoured a fuller, richer body, helped by those famously oversized stills and the direct firing that has been kept long after most of Speyside switched to steam. With less water and no filtration to round its edges, the sherry character pushes forward more confidently than in the 12 Year Old.
It is, in effect, the same whisky as the rest of the range in terms of cask policy, oloroso butts and hogsheads sourced through the family's longstanding Spanish relationships, but presented in a way that flatters the heavier elements. The result is a whisky that bridges the cheerful 12 Year Old and the more contemplative 17, without quite resembling either.
For those who suspect that 43% has been doing the older Glenfarclas expressions a quiet disservice, the 14 Year Old offers a useful counter-argument.
