Despite my misgivings towards official Auchentoshans, I'm always interested in trying independent bottlers' takes on the Lowlander. They're usually entertaining, and sometimes very good. Today's single cask of the Clydebank distillery's spirit comes from whisky's own No Homers Club. It was bottled before the SMWS started fully committing to secondary and tertiary maturations. Indeed, this Auchie spent its life in a refill hoggie. Lemme see what happened to it...
Distillery: Auchentoshan
Distilled by: Suntory Holdings
Current Ownership: Beam Suntory
Region: Lowlands (Glasgow-ish)
Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: minimum 13 years (October 2000 - ????)
Maturation: refill hogshead
Cask #: 5.40, "Soft, Sweet and Fluffy"
Outturn: ??? bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 56.7%
(Thank you, Brett!)
NEAT
Citronella, passionfruit, and cardamom drift through the nose, with a little bit of lemon basil in the background. It becomes more floral with time, while also gaining notes of brine and white chocolate. It's hot and sweet on the palate, but also very fruity, with apricots lemons, and yellow nectarines. Notes of green peppercorns, barley, and metal stay in the back. It finishes tarter, with more lemons and peppercorns and a light floral note.
DILUTED to ~46%abv, or < 1½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Lots of fruit on the snoot, particularly apricots, so many apricots! A few oranges here, some lychees there, hints of malt and oak spice in the distance. The gently sweet palate brings lemons, barley, mint and limes. It finishes mildly tart with the citrus and mint combo.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
Another SMWS name that works! It's soft and sweet, though I don't know about fluffy. It's such a pleasant whisky, a drinker, not a thinker. I'm not sure why the OB Valinch wasn't more like this style, especially since that one was from a sizable batch. Maybe this hoggie was just a pretty freak. Whatever the case, this is a simple fruity pour that works well in the summer.
Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 85