
January 31, 2018

Auchentoshan’s turn

I usually keep my Auchentoshans for summer days, but I thought … Oh well, let’s see what we have, in no particular order…

Auchentoshan 12 yo (40%, OB, +/-2017)

This low-strength baby did rather please me last time (WF 80 in 2013). Colour: gold. Nose: well, I’m finding it even more Irish than usual, and that’s the rather appealing mix of soaked sultanas with cinnamon rolls. Bags and bags of cinnamon rolls! Beyond that, the expected wine gums and these notes of cut apples and pineapples. Nice nose, almost refreshing. Mouth: a little more citrus this time, a wee touch of ginger, something clearly limoncello-y, squash blossoms, vanilla, a spoonful of acacia honey, and one or two liquorice allsorts. Tends to get thin but not quite too weak. Finish: short, clean, on more or less the same notes plus a little more malt, especially in the aftertaste. Comments: really liked it this time. Is it summer yet?
SGP:541 - 82 points.

Auchentoshan 14 yo (46%, OB, Cooper’s Reserve, Travel Retail, +/-2017)

No, no, that’s not The Cooper’s Choice, this is well an OB. A lot of wood inside, I suppose – given the name. Colour: gold. Nose: certainly less fragrant than the regular 12, and certainly a little more oaky/sawdusty although we would remain below our own limits. Quite floral as well (honeysuckle, elder flower) then we have overripe apples and figs. You know, the big purple ones… And whiffs of kiwis? Mouth: same remarks, it’s got much more oak than the 12, which was brighter and more appealing. Ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg, and only then sweet apples and oranges. Clearly modern. Finish: medium and double-headed (what?) Bright fresh fruits on one side and spicy sawdust on the other side. Comments: really good, but a little too modern/oaked for me.
SGP:551 - 80 points.

Auchentoshan 15 yo 1999/2015 (46%, Signatory Vintage, Un-chillfiltered Collection, bourbon, casks #800260-800261)

Colour: white wine. Nose: spirity, kirschy, feeling young and, I have to add, a little immature. Now I do enjoy these notes of squeezed lemons, green apples, and these very faint hints of bananas and pineapples. A touch of coconut too, and very little oak. Which, in theory, is good in my book. Mouth: same feeling of unaged eau-de-vie to which someone would have added just drops of vanilla essence. Apples, oranges, plum eau-de-vie, and hints of sucrose. Finish: medium, rather on greenish bananas. Comments: some rather crisp and fresh young malt that doesn’t taste its age. Good but perhaps not very deep, not very representative of this otherwise excellent range.
SGP:541 - 78 points.

And he insists…

Auchentoshan 17 yo 1998/2016 (46%, Signatory Vintage, Un-chillfiltered Collection, bourbon, casks #102361-102362)

Let’s see if the 1998 vintage was better. I’m kidding. Colour: gold. Nose: much, and I mean much more like it. More vanilla and honey, more mature, with more ripe fruits, fresh figs again, a bit of toasted oak, barley water, chestnut purée, bananas flambéed (with Bacardi, not Hampden ;-)), white chocolate… In short, all very easy and nice. Mouth: that’s the difference with many OBs (not particularly at Auchentoshan’s), this is matured in oak, not flavoured with oak. Good tropical fruits (bananas again, papayas), barley water, more white chocolate, a little bit of tobacco, tinned fruit salad… Very nice body, very approachable. Finish: medium, rounded yet a tad spicier. Cinnamon and ginger in appropriate measures. Comments: another, higher league.
SGP:641 - 84 points.

Auchentoshan 18 yo 1998/2017 (47.5%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, refill hogshead, cask # 11829, 231 bottles)

At an unusual strength for this range. Natural strength? Colour: straw. Nose: this is the most citrusy of them all, with cider apples, lime, lemons, kiwis… I’d even call it quite ‘sauvignony’, and we’ve known some Sancerres that… Mouth: a tad more mineral than the others, a notch more mentholy as well, with really a lot of elderberry eau-de-vie and a drop of orange blossom water. This is a very singular profile, really interesting, it’s as if the cask had seen a peater in its life, or some high-ester rum. Not obligatorily the previous content, but possibly the one before. No, no, really… Finish: medium, more on classic wine gums and a good deal of Auchentoshanness. Comments: like it!
SGP:651 - 84 points.

We may come back tomorrow with bigger Auchentoshans…

Check the index of all Auchentoshan I've tasted so far