• Single Grain
• Campbeltown
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• Western Highlands

	Auchentoshan
			Sample
O.B.	10 years	17
	Select	16 1/2
	Triple Wood	17 1/4
Dun Eideann	Dun Eideann 1996, Oloroso		17
Jean Boyer	Best casks of Scotland 1995		18
Malts of Scotland	1991, Chateau Montrose Wine finish		15

 

 

Auchentoshan Select
Age	10 years
Alcohol percentage	40%
Particularity	triple distillation
Bottler	official
Price/litre

 

 The smell is relatively neutral, but not unpleasant. A certain lack of complexity. The typical hints of a Lowland, like freshness and cut grass are not present in this single malt. May be due to triple distillation...? The pleasant taste leaves an feeling of incompleteness. The rather long finish is pleasant too. A good whisky, but without the complexity which would make it a great whisky.

A rather discrete and pleasant nose announces a pleasant taste. The palate is discrete too, with some malt hints, mixed with a rather neutral taste which is difficult to describe (flower taste?), followed by a pleasant finish, which seemed to me to be shorter than during the first tasting. However, the rating and the conclusion are not amended: a good whisky.

During the third tasting, a certain lack at diversity in the taste and a lack at surprise were predominant. A rather disappointing whisky, unless its evident qualities.

The nose is rather discrete and floral. In the palate, this whisky is sweet and relatively simple, without complexity and the nose is confirmed. The finish is rather short.

 

Auchentoshan 10 years
Age	10 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Particularity	triple distillation
Bottler	official
Price/litre

A nose with some farm hints, wet hay, a touch of peat and some discrete smoke, salted and iodine hints, some oak aromas, announcing some interesting complexity. The mouth is not as interesting than the nose was, quite linear with a woody dominance and some acid touches. No fault and no surprise. Just pleasant. The pleasure seems to increase again with the finish, quite long with some bitter retro-olfaction effects and a touch of liquorice.

Comment by Henrik Johanson

Apperance: Neat yellow gold, clear
Nose: Light nose. Slightly winey, spicy, mossy and citric with some strokes of ethyl alcohol and acetone. Hints of autumn leaves and sweet liqourice like in the 12 y.o. only less pronounced than my recollection of that one. It's fresh and clean but sort of light and neutral, a petite aroma.
Body: Light
Palate: Semi-sweet, malty and fresh, a very pleasant and drinkable whisky. Very light to begin with, the middle intensifies and the finish is surprisingly long with some chocolate and spicy overtones. It's a nice dram, but the lack of depth and personality is regrettable. I would love to try a cask strength, non chill-filtered version.

 

 

 

Auchentoshan Three Wood
Age	10 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Particularities	Triple Distillation, triple Maturation
Casks	Bourbon, Sherry Oloroso et Sherry Pedro Jimenez
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

 

 The nose reveals a complex whole of delicate and pleasant smells. This whisky is clearly more complex than other Lowland malts. The typical freshness of whiskies of this area is not really present. On the other hand, the taste buds are pleasantly delighted by all the nuances, however sometimes vague. A long peppery finish crowns this exceptional malt, even if not really representative of the origin area.

An unusual smell for a single malt. Far away from the freshness Lowlands used us to, this whisky smells like malt, but with some clear leather hints, and may be some touches of dried fruits. In the palate, sherry hints on a malted background. A rather long finish, with a hint of acidity, but coming back soon on the malt. An interesting whisky, but without complexity and surprise.

The nose reveals clearly the presence of sherry, with some meaty hints and peppery notes. A nice complexity. In the palate, first a malty smoothness which developes quickly on more acid notes, sometimes not really pleasant, somethiing like gastic acid... with however nice spicy notes which overule this unpleasant feeling, and at the end, some smoke. The finish is long and pleasant, with both malty sweetness and nutty bitterness.

The nose is clearly marked by sherry and interesting hints of meat juice and plum jam.
In the palate, sherry remains quite present and mixes very well with ripe fruit notes. Nicely balanced, fruity with some chocolate hints. Nice complexity, and surprisingly no wood taste at all, even if one could expect some due to the impression of old sherry matured whisky suggested by the nose.
The finish is refined and smooth and both fruity and sherryish hints remain for a while.

 Comment by Henrik Johansson

Date of tasting: 11/11 2008
Apperance: Polished mahogany
Nose: Astonishingly prickly neat (astonishing because of the low ABV and expected sherry influence) which makes it difficult to appreciate it. Quite sulphury and woody with burnt rubber, vomit, digestive bisquits and a feint sandalwood hint. Below that, some more sherry influence like winey notes- oloroso I think, dried fruits and chocolate, then the alcohol takes charge again. Diluted dram is slightly fresher with some more fruity and fragrant elements. Some vanilla, candied oranges and a wiff of sweet liqourice.
Body: Medium
Palate: Sweetish but drying towards the finish. Quite pleasant, reasonably full bodied with a decent length. Some woody bitterness towards the end. The flavour is a bit more mellow then the aroma, but not more inspiring. Good, but not like a well sherried Speysider.
83/100

Auchentoshan Best Casks of Scotland 1995
Age	10 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Bottler	Jean Boyer

A typical Lowlands whisky nose, with the traditional discretion and the usual hints of cut grass, hay and ripe fruits (pear, peach), the whole expressing a great fresness. In the palate, everything just confirms the first nose. This is a whisky with a great freshness, keeping however lots of character. The finish is pleasant and lingering, and nice malty notes mix discreetly with the flavours described above, and after a while, some mentholated notes appear, before developing on slightly spicy ones.

Auchentoshan 1996 Oloroso
Age	10 years
Alcohol percentage	42%
Bottler	Dun Eideann

The nose is marked by yeast smells hiding hints of cut grass and a smooth mix of malt and citrus fruit. In the palate, a nice mix of sensations, even if it remains on a rather limited palette. Some acidity, some ripe fruit, some bitterness. The finish is first pleasantly bitter (walnut) and rather long. Remains going from walnut to fruit and back again. A very interesting bottle.

Auchentoshan Malts of Scotland, 1991 Chateau Montrose wine finish
Age	18 years
Alcohol percentage	59,3%
Bottler	Malts of Scotland
Price/litre

First nose impression is an unpleasant yeast odour which unfortunately does not disappear making room for nicer scents.
A strange taste of herring seems to dominate the rest of the tastes in the mouth. But after a while, I was force to note that there is no other taste... Very strange taste indeed. Certainly far away from those I appreciate. Is this due to the triple distillation in combination with this wine finish...?
Finish is of medium length and is not much better than the mouth was...
Bottle to avoid, in my opinion.

Auchentoshan 12 years old
Age	12 years
Alcohol percentage	43%
Bottler	Official

Comment by Henrik Johansson

This is quite an unusual bottling of Auchentoshan as I understand it. A friend of mine picked it up in a duty free shop on a Sweden-Finland cruize ship. I've only tasted the 10 y.o. before, which I wasn't too impressed with. As I recal, it was quite bland and uninteresting. This one however is a totally different story altogether. Apperance: Surprisingly dark Copper. Nose: Straight nose is round and full. Appetizing. Cola like scents with a wiff of liquorice. Balanced saltyness and sweetness. Earthy scents blend with pear-mints. Reduced nose lends some more citric hints. Quite complex and balanced aromas. Cereal, estery, woody, winey and feinty hints mix in a very interesting nose. Body: Medium light Palate: Some liquorice carries over, otherwi! se pretty fruity and winey. A little bran with almonds. The finish is long and sweet. Very pleasant dram alltogether.
90/100