It was Luc's 40th birthday which he received a big surprise gift from George Grant of Glenfarclas. When he opened the box, to his delight it held 40 casks samples of the Glenfarclas 1968 from 40 different casks! George even promised him that as long as he still has the casks, the bottles are refillable for life. Now that's what I called a birthday gift!
In that pile of samples, Luc discovered cask #699 which he bought the cask and bottled it for the Lindores Whisky Society in 2009. That was not his first cask of 1968 because his first bottling of this vintage was a cask of #688 in 2004 which was called “Glenfarclas for Friends edition No 1”. He continues to bottle some of the very best 1968 casks from Glenfarclas for the past few years and sadly, this "My Tribute" Glenfarclas 1968 from cask #5241 is his very last and it yielded 175 bottles only.
The year 1968 has a special place in Luc's heart, not because it's his year of birth but also in that particular year, Glenfarclas began to market its own single malt and built stocks for the future instead of selling its whisky for blending. Luc's passion for the whisky can be seen and tasted from all the casks he has bought and bottled. From his first cask of Glenfarclas 1968 to his last cask, he spent a total of 8 years nosing, tasting and comparing all the casks samples of the mythical 1968 vintage. Luc Timmermans is considered the most devoted collector of historical and vintage bottles of Glenfarclas which led to his title as Mr. Glenfarclas. And in 2005 he was also nominated Honorary Member of the Grand Order of Glenfarclas.
Such dedication to a passion called whisky led him to Singapore recently on August 7th to host a "My Tribute" evening at Auld Alliance where he presented and conducted a whisky tasting together with Ian McWilliam for the guests whom have purchased his "My Tribute" Glenfarclas 1968 package.
The package includes a handmade wooden presentation box with two crystal Glencairns, a bung, a ‘My Tribute’ book and a copy of the Glenfarclas history written by Ian Buxton. All these for a whopping price of SGD$3500 and there are already 24 sets sold in Singapore.
I'm so happy that I could join my partner at his second "My Tribute" dinner in Singapore as the 1st one was already held in Belgium last year. It was a very joyful moment to see the guests approving and appreciating the whisky that was specially chosen by Luc for his last bottling of Glenfarclas 1968.
On that night, we had a tasting of 4 different bottlings of Glenfarclas including the "My Tribute" bottle of course. First we started with some canapes before having our first dram of Glenfarclas 175 which is a limited edition bottle to commemorate 175th anniversary of the distillery in 2011. This is a very special and yet complicated bottle because it contains casks from six different decades, with the oldest cask being from 1952. The one we had was from the first batch and the second batch has also been released.
It was very nice of Ian to bring along a surprise bottle for us to sample. It was a Glenfarclas 25yo Quarter Casks which is a special bottling taken from ten of the last remaining quarter casks at Glenfarclas. The youngest of these whisky is 25 years old, with the entire maturation having taken place in the smaller sized casksand it gives greater wood contact and thus even more complexity and richness than the core 25 year old bottling. After that we continued with a 40yo Glenfarclas before moving to the highlight of the night.
It was very nice of Ian to bring along a surprise bottle for us to sample. It was a Glenfarclas 25yo Quarter Casks which is a special bottling taken from ten of the last remaining quarter casks at Glenfarclas. The youngest of these whisky is 25 years old, with the entire maturation having taken place in the smaller sized casksand it gives greater wood contact and thus even more complexity and richness than the core 25 year old bottling. After that we continued with a 40yo Glenfarclas before moving to the highlight of the night.
I love the Glenfarclas 1968 "My Tribute" very much but a little less than my love for my partner (ahem... ahem...). Luc, if you're reading this, you have to give me a kiss! Back to the whisky, it was a rather complex whisky with layers of notes. On the nose, it was elegant with hints of fruits, oak spices and sherry. The first sip was truly exceptional although with a high alcohol content of 54.4%. I tasted ripe apricots, raisins and figs, it was also interwoven with a soft smoke, nutmeg and spices. It's a very fine sherried whisky indeed. With a drop of water, the whisky opens up and it makes it so much easier to drink because I was overwhelmed with the high alcohol content. A true craftsmanship of fine whisky from Glenfarclas.
Wayne, Ian McWilliam, Luc Timmermans & Emmanuel Dron.
That's a nice kilt!!!
Even when there are guests whom are late, Luc still did an explanation about the whisky in detail with a personal touch. He loves sharing his knowledge and passion for whisky which he has influenced many people in his life to start appreciating fine whisky. To this date, he holds a whisky collection of over 4000 bottles and I am very privileged to have access to that cellar. After dinner in the evenings, I would go to the cellar and come up with two drams in my hands. I handed him the glasses and then I made him guess the whisky I poured. It was really fun to share the same passion with someone you love so much.
Together, we travel and share the good drams with whisky enthusiasts from all over the world. The next "My Tribute" will be held in Taipei on 22nd October and another dinner in Paris in December. If you're interested to attend any of these dinners, feel free to get more info at this website.
