5th December, 2013 by Amy Hopkins

The Whisky Exchange (TWE) has crowned Glenfarclas 15 Year Old single malt Scotch its Whisky of the Year 2013.

The online spirits retailer held a blind tasting in London earlier this week where drinks industry members, bloggers and the press gathered to announce their TWE’s Whisky of the Year.

Glenfarclas 15 Year Old was selected by the panel from a shortlisted eight whiskies which were separated into eight categories: light, medium and heavy.

The light category consisted of Glencadam 15 Year Old, Glenmorangie 10 Year Old and Benromach 10 Year Old; the medium category was composed of The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old, Tamdhu 10 Year Old and Glenfarclas 15 Year Old; and the heavy styles were Kilchoman Machir Bay and finally, Lagavulin 16 Year Old.

“Having spent many weeks accumulating a list with as many as 40 whiskies, The Whisky Exchange staff then began fine tuning the list in order to get to the final eight drams,” said Sukhinder Singh, Director at TWE.

“Having bloggers and writers at the event made it very interesting for us to see which products shone through under the parameters of a blind tasting with a few surprises amongst the flight.”

All whiskies competing for the title were required to adhere to a specific criteria; all had to be a single malt Scotch whisky, not of cask strength, and priced under £50.

Nick Tether, marketing manager for TWE, said: “The Whisky Exchange Whisky of the Year is about celebrating a whisky that can be enjoyed at any occasion by one and all and not a limited edition that appeals to the connoisseur.”

Bottled at 46% abv, Glenfarclas 15 Year Old is described as having an aroma of raisins, honey and ginger, and a “silky-textured” finish on the palate.

To commemorate the award, TWE will be selling Glenfarclas 15 Year Old at a lower price of £39.99 until the end of January 2014.