Review #293 - SMWS 1.265 'Oma at the Cinema' - Glenfarclas 9 Year

The first Glenfarclas we tried, and it's a slightly unusual one - it sees no sherry maturation. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) aged this in a first fill ex-bourbon cask, but only for 9 years - due to the youth and possibly more subtle aging, this bottle falls into their 'Light & Delicate' flavor profile.

Most of these SMWS whiskies have exotic tasting notes listed on their labels - this bottle sports the following description: "Toffee, coconut and apple crumble arrived with floral notes and toasted grain, while marzipan, popcorn and beeswax were joined by dry stone fruits." That's quite a list to live up to - let's see if it really holds those flavors.

SMWS 1.265 'Oma at the Cinema' - Glenfarclas 9 Year

Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt

Price Paid: USD 120 (2023)

Age Statement: 9 Years

Strength: 58.3% ABV

Cask Makeup: First fill ex-bourbon barrel

Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; distilled January 25, 2012; 244 bottles

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 8 months; bottles at 100% (blind tasting), 80% (blind tasting), 70%, and 60% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes

Nose: A nice malty character, along with vanilla and cream, some oats, and this is definitely young and spirity. Oak is mild but quite drying, and there are some nice light fruits: melon, apples, and banana. Brown sugar and cinnamon add some baking notes, and this grows sweeter in time; in the background, we find subtle savory and metallic notes, along with a resinous character.

Palate: Quite hot and strong, with a medium-thick mouthfeel. It's raw, but also has a variety of woody and baking notes: vanilla, brown sugar, buttered rum, toasty burnt sugars, peppercorn, and tannins came out across our tastings. Subtle fruits of pineapple and caramelized peach are accent flavors, and there are soft savory notes in the background again. Oily, strong, and quite oaky in the end.

Finish: Medium-long, with plenty of warmth and oily texture lingering. Nice sweet baking notes of creme brulee, cream, rum, and torched sugar; that sappy, resinous character from the nose returns, and there's spice of dry cinnamon and tannins.

Final Note: The flavors here are interesting, but this feels a bit unpolished and wild; additionally, the cask has had a surprisingly strong oak effect, adding quite a few tannins - we wonder if that's why it was bottled this young, as the tannic effect was already becoming too strong. Nice baking spice and light fruit flavors like you might expect on an ex-bourbon Speysider, but it's unashamedly youthful.

Like most of these SMWS bottles these days in the US, the price is creeping up, making value a tricky topic; it's not bad, but probably below average, and quite expensive for a 9 year old whisky.

Our Average Rating: 6.6 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 5.37