Highlands region – 57.5%ABV – $189

A few weeks ago, while on a trip to Chicago, I met up with my good friend Jason Johnstone-Yellin (of guidscotchdrink.com) and during this time we sat a spell at Lady Gregory’s.  A cool Irish pub with a decent dinner menu (actually, a really great menu if you’re not a vegetarian) and a Whisk(e)y & Beer menu that was… not too shabby!

The tough thing is, for whisky anoraks/reviewers/bloggers like Jason and I, well… we’ve tasted A LOT of whisky.  As an idea or hint; when Jason and I were in Scotland this past August with our friends and tour guests, in 7 days alone, we tasted 134 different whiskies (yes, we counted and kept track).  Not everybody does, I understand this.  In fact we talked about it during our time at Lady Gregory’s (how crazy, ridiculous and awesome it is to get to taste so much whisky).  This being said, while I call the Whisk(e)y menu “not too shabby”, for most it’s an amazing whisky list!  Over 200 whiskies if memory serves.

While going over the list we found two whiskies in particular that really intrigued us so we had to try them/review them together.  The first is this Glenfarclas that’s being reviewed today and the other is a Laphroaig that I’ll post up in a couple of weeks.

As mentioned, we reviewed this whisky together so the notes are combined notes from our experience.

Color — Sunlight on a mahogany chair

On the nose — Attic stored afghans (not the people), cinnamon, candied apples, burnt caramel, mahogany, cherry stones/pits, fresh suburban rain, baked granola bars (freshly toasted oats, oven baked raisin notes, warm honey).

On the mouth — WOOD, lots of wood. Hot, overstewed prunes, the spirit character is a bit lost here.

Finish — Moderate to long, sweet and astringent/bitter cherry juice, continues to dry out the mouth

In sum — It was cool taste a whisky that was almost as old as I am but in the end, the real treat was to spend some time and bullshit with a good friend.