Glenfarclas 190 is a limited-edition Speyside single malt released to mark the distillery’s 190th anniversary and the final bottling in its Anniversary Trilogy, after the 175 and 185. It marries 78 casks laid down across five decades, from the 1970s to the 2000s, and is bottled at 51.4% ABV, the old 90 British proof. It is non chill filtered with no added colouring. Just 15,000 bottles go on sale globally from August 2026, with a UK RRP of £95.
Glenfarclas built its 190th-anniversary malt around a number that has not appeared on a British label in a long time: 90 proof.
That is 51.4% ABV in modern terms, the strength Glenfarclas printed on its bottles for the first 154 years it made whisky. Hitting it exactly, while landing the flavour the team wanted, is the whole trick of Glenfarclas 190. The distillery says the composition was balanced by hand to reach that proof rather than reduced to a round percentage after the fact.
Glenfarclas 190 is the last release in the distillery’s Anniversary Trilogy, following Glenfarclas 175 in 2011 and Glenfarclas 185 in 2021. It is a Speyside single malt, though Glenfarclas has long labelled itself Highland, a historic quirk that predates the tighter regional definitions most drinkers use today. The distillery sits at Ballindalloch, in the heart of Speyside.
The key facts
ABV: 51.4% (90 British proof)
Cask make-up: 78 casks married together, drawn from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s
Maturation: predominantly sherry casks, sourced in recent decades from a family-run bodega in Jerez, Spain
Presentation: non chill filtered, no added colouring
Bottles: 15,000, released globally
Price: £95 UK RRP On sale: UK and international markets from August 2026
How the whisky was built
Distillery Manager Callum Fraser and Managing Director Douglas Belford went through the warehouses and selected 78 casks to marry into the final whisky. The idea was to pull a different character out of each decade: fruitier notes from the 1970s spirit, richer sherried weight from the 1980s and 1990s, and toffee and caramel from casks laid down in the 2000s.
Fraser has the credentials for the job. He was named Scotland’s Master Distiller of the Year at the 2026 Icons of Whisky Awards, and Belford was recognised as a Master of the Quaich in 2025.
Glenfarclas still runs direct-fired stills, heating the wash directly rather than with internal steam coils. It is one of a small group of distilleries that has kept the method, and the team credits it, along with the sherry-cask maturation, for the house style. Fraser describes the assembly of 190 as intricate hand-work, drawing on more than 60 years of combined experience to marry casks and volumes until the profile and the 90 proof lined up.
Official tasting notes
These are Glenfarclas’s own notes for the release, not a TDW tasting. We will update this piece once we have a glass in front of us.
Nose: green apple, sherry sweetness, dried fruit
Palate: rich sherry, spiced Christmas cake, toffee and caramel, velvety texture
Finish: long, with dark chocolate and fresh tobacco
ABV: 51.4% | Casks: predominantly sherry (Jerez) | Non chill filtered, natural colour
RRP: £95
Why 190 matters
Anniversary bottlings from family distilleries usually arrive as trophy pieces at trophy prices. Glenfarclas has taken the opposite route here. A malt married from five decades of stock, at natural strength, non chill filtered and with no colouring added, for £95 is squarely aimed at people who want to drink it rather than flip it.
It also closes a set. If you own the 175 and the 185, the 190 is the bottle that completes the trilogy, and 15,000 bottles across every market Glenfarclas sells into is not a large number for a global release. That is the case for moving quickly rather than waiting.
Glenfarclas has been in the Grant family since 1865, when John Grant bought the distillery, and it is now run by the sixth generation. Chairman John Grant OBE framed the anniversary as a marker of continuity, with the family still involved in day-to-day decisions. For a release like this, that ownership is the point: the deep, aged sherry stock that makes a five-decade marriage possible is exactly what an independent, family-held distillery with full warehouses can offer.
Price and availability
Glenfarclas 190 carries a UK RRP of £95 for a 700ml bottle and goes on sale from August 2026. The run is 15,000 bottles worldwide, so international buyers are covered, but stock is finite.
UK and EU specialists that routinely carry Glenfarclas, including The Whisky Exchange, Master of Malt and Royal Mile Whiskies, all ship internationally, and the distillery’s own site at glenfarclas.com is worth watching for direct sales. For readers in the rest of the EU, importing from a UK specialist or buying through a European stockist are both realistic once allocations land.
FAQ
What is Glenfarclas 190? Glenfarclas 190 is a limited-edition Speyside single malt Scotch whisky released to celebrate the distillery’s 190th anniversary in 2026. It is the third and final bottling in the Anniversary Trilogy, after the 175 and 185, and marries 78 casks spanning five decades of production.
What does Glenfarclas 190 taste like? According to the distillery’s own notes, Glenfarclas 190 shows green apple and sherry sweetness on the nose, a rich palate of spiced Christmas cake with toffee and caramel, and a long finish of dark chocolate and fresh tobacco. The cask marriage aims to blend fruit, sherry weight and caramel.
How much does Glenfarclas 190 cost? Glenfarclas 190 has a UK recommended retail price of £95 for a 700ml bottle, roughly 110 euros. It is a limited run of 15,000 bottles released globally, so pricing in other markets will vary with local taxes and import costs.
Where can I buy Glenfarclas 190? It goes on sale in the UK and international markets from August 2026. Look to specialists such as The Whisky Exchange, Master of Malt and Royal Mile Whiskies, which ship internationally, plus the distillery site at glenfarclas.com. With only 15,000 bottles worldwide, buying early is wise.
Is Glenfarclas 190 cask strength? No. It is bottled at 51.4% ABV, the old 90 British proof, so it sits below the distillery’s cask-strength 105. It is reduced to that specific proof by design, but it is non chill filtered and has no added colouring.
What is Glenfarclas known for? Glenfarclas is a family-owned Speyside distillery, run by the sixth generation of the Grant family, known for heavily sherried single malts matured in Jerez-sourced casks and for keeping traditional direct-fired stills. Its range spans the core Aged Range, the single-cask Family Cask series and limited editions.
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