Glenfarclas 50 year old 50th Anniversary Single Speyside Malt Scotch Whisky 50%

The cask was filled by George Grant. It was emptied for his son John, who had spent fifty years in the trade by the time the bottle appeared. That is the kind of timeline only a family-owned distillery can deliver.

The expert's description

Glenfarclas 50 Year Old 50th Anniversary is a Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky matured in sherry casks and bottled at 50% in 836 bottles.

The bottling marks chairman John Grant’s fifty years in the whisky industry. The whisky was laid down by his father, George Grant, and was allowed to sit for half a century before bottling. The 50% is high for a whisky of this age and says something about how slowly the casks work in the Glenfarclas warehouses.

Fifty years in sherry casks is rare, but it is not unusual at Glenfarclas. The family has held back from selling its oldest casks over generations, and precisely for that reason the distillery can make a bottling like this without having to buy casks in from outside.

Tasting notes

Nose

Deep and concentrated. Dried fruit, dark syrup and old leather, with a dusty library note only decades in wood can create.

Palate

Full and dense. Raisin, walnut and dark chocolate over a base of aged oak, with a spiced depth that keeps unfolding. The 50% carries the whisky without being sharp.

Finish

Very long. Dried fruit, tobacco and oak drying slowly and lingering for many minutes.

Specifications

Name: Glenfarclas 50 Year Old 50th Anniversary Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky 50%
Distillery: Glenfarclas
Region/Country: Speyside, Scotland
Type: Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 50 years
ABV: 50%
Size: 70 CL
Cask type: Sherry casks
Number of bottles: 836
Edition: 50th Anniversary - John Grant’s fifty years in the trade

Flavour profile

Sherried · Dark fruit · Nutty · Leather · Complex

Investment potential

High. 836 bottles for the whole world, fifty years in cask and an anniversary that will not come round again. Old Glenfarclas casks still sit in the family warehouses, but a bottling tied to a particular person and a particular year cannot be repeated.

Did you know?

The whisky was laid down by George Grant and bottled for his son John, marking fifty years in the whisky industry. A cask filled by one generation and emptied by the next is only possible when the same family name has been on the deeds the whole way.

See our full range of Glenfarclas

Listen to our podcast:

Frequently asked questions about Glenfarclas 50 Year Old 50th Anniversary

Is it worth the money?

This is not a bottle judged on contents alone. Fifty years in sherry casks, 836 bottles for the entire world, and a whisky laid down by one generation and bottled for the next. It is the rarity and the story that carry it — the flavour is part of the package, not all of it.

What does the 50th Anniversary mark?

Chairman John Grant’s fifty years in the whisky industry. It is not the distillery anniversary but a personal one — and the whisky in the bottle is exactly as old as his career.

Who laid the whisky down?

George Grant, John Grant’s father. The cask was filled half a century before bottling, long before anyone could know what it would be used for. It is one of the few things in whisky you cannot plan your way to.

Is 50% high for a fifty year old whisky?

Yes, unusually high. Most whiskies of that age have fallen to the forty-somethings, because alcohol evaporates through the cask year after year. That this one still sits at 50% says something about the cool, damp conditions in the warehouses.

How should it be served?

Neat, at room temperature, in a tulip-shaped glass, and with plenty of time. Give it at least twenty minutes — a fifty year old whisky shifts markedly in the glass. There is no reason to add water at 50%.

Should it be opened?

That is the owner’s decision. Opened, you get a whisky that spent half a century in cask. Unopened, you hold one of 836 bottles from an occasion that will not repeat. See the other Scottish styles in our Scotch Whisky selection if you are looking for something to drink instead.

How is it best stored?

Upright, dark and cool, with the box and packaging intact. On a bottle in this category both the cork and the box are part of the whole, so check the cork once a year and avoid temperature swings.