Side by side : Glenfarclas

Rather than review drams by themselves I'm doing a little series comparing some 'side by side'.

There may be two or more, they may be from the same or different distilleries, similar ages, ABVs and types or not as I decide!

This time we are reviewing four drams from @Glenfarclas, the 12yo, 15yo, 21yo and 25yo, let's compare and contrast!

Dram	12yo	15yo	21yo	25yo
Characteristics	43% ABV, Natural colour, NCF	46% ABV, Natural colour, NCF	43% ABV, Natural colour, NCF	43% ABV, Natural colour, Chillfiltered
Distillery info	Nose: Fresh and beautifully light, sherried fruit combined with tempting spicy sweetness and a hint of sappy oak. Flavour: Full-bodied with a delightful sherried fruit, oak and delicious sweet sensations. Finish: Long and flavoursome, with a lingering spiciness.	Nose: Complex sherried, light butterscotch aromas, with a hint of dried fruit. Flavour: Full bodies with a superb balance of sherried sweetness and malty tones. Finish: Long lasting, gloriously sherried, sweet and distinguished.	Nose: Intense, full of aromas - sherried fruit, tropical fruit, nutmeg and almonds with light citrus notes at the end. Flavour: Full bodies rich and rounded, develops slowly into fruity and spicy flavours. Finish: Long lasting and smooth with a chocolate feel at the back of your throat.	Nose: Complex, yet refined, with tempting aromas of marmalade, honey, freshly ground coffee, shery and nuts. Some oaky tannins. Flavour: Full-bodied and robust, the sherry and the oak fight for your attention yet neither overpowering. Finish: intense, long lasting, dry and malty. A beautiful dark chocolate taste at the back of your mouth.
My thoughts:
Appearance	Pale gold in the glass, swirls lead to slow thin legs.	Pale gold in the glass, swirls lead to slow thin legs.	Pale gold in the glass, swirls lead to slow thin legs.	Pale gold in the glass, swirls lead to slow thin legs!
Nose	Strawberry jam, honey, a hint of spice.	Virtually the same as the 12yo with maybe a little hint of toffee.	Orange marmalade rather than the strawberry jam, more intense honey.	Similar to the 21yo but with a more citrus bite - some nuts and a hint of smoke?
Palate	Initial watery arrival coats the tongue with a lovely smooth honey, orange and a little oaky dryness, lovely ginger spice kick finishes it off nicely!	More body than the 12yo, again tongue coating with the lovely honey and orange notes but this has a tropical edge to it too - dried pineapple. A gentler spice note.	Thick syrupy arrival, loads of sweet honey, woody, dry, some apple and nuts. Vanilla and chocolate notes. There's the tropical pineapple notes from the 15yo but more intense. A hint of smoke and again a gentle spice.	Thick buttery arrival, almost oily, again coating the tongue in sweet honey but this has some more fruit - orange, apricot and peach. Some tropical pineapple and mango notes with a woody nutty dryness coming through. Dark chocolate notes along with a lovely peppery spiciness - a lovely dram!
Finish	Spicy and dry, a little of the orange and some dried fruit.	Warming and dry, a little of the orange and some dried fruit. Not as spicy as the 12yo.	The spice comes through on the finish - ginger and cinnamon, loads of  tropical fruit and drying wood.	Peppery spice and sweet honey mix to give a long warming finish. Dark chocolate and nuts give a dryness.
Overall	Well where do I start! The colour on all the drams is natural but they all looked very similar. According to the info I could get they are all non-chill-filtered except the 25yo - very strange. I normally get strawberry jam notes on the nose of sherry cask matured whiskies and these, coming from 100% oloroso casks didn't disappoint. The older pair though had more of an orange marmalade note - like that lovely bitter orange stuff you can get! As I progressed up the age range the thickness of the mouthfeel increased but all were lovely tongue coating drams which shared a honey sweetness and some fruit, but again as you go up the age range the fruit notes intensify and turn tropical. Vanilla also starts to put in an appearance - normally a note from bourbon casks but maybe the length of time in the oak gave this? Spice was an interesting note - more intense on the younger whisky on the nose and palate, but more evident on the finish on the older drams. Don't expect sherry bombs like an A'Bunadh, these aren't one of them they give lovely sherry notes, and a little of that Christmas cake mix in the older drams, but are a little more refined and gentle. If you want a Glenfarclas sherry bomb I suggest you go for the 105. It's interesting that the whole range is bottled at 43% except the 15yo at 46% - the distillery says it's "simply because my grandfather prefered it at this strength"! I'd suggest the 21yo and 25yo would also benefit from a higher ABV. These whiskies go up in price from around £50, £55, £100 to £125 as they get older but to be honest you won't be disappointed with the 12yo. The 15yo is very similar so probably not worth the extra money. The doubling in price from the 15yo to the 21yo would make me say pay the little extra and get the 25yo - it's probably one of the cheapest 25yo you can buy and well worth the investment!

Thanks to Paul @WhiskynStuff for the 12yo and 25yo samples!