The Toshan Man

Auchentoshan was founded in 1823, meaning that the Glasgow distillery had reason to celebrate this year. To that end, the organized a festival on the distillery ground on Saturday 2nd September 2023. It goes without saying that this was an event that the Toshan Man would not miss. So I booked our flights, hotel and tickets to the event and set off, accompanied by Dearly Beloved.

We had visited the distillery for a regular tour the day before and were somewhat surprised to see that the pristine white distillery building sported a huge artwork by renowned street artist Boiiing on what wall. It was not completely finished on Friday, but when we came back for the festival, he was putting the final touches on it. And soon we realized the art was actually quite important, as it is also the artwork that is used on the anniversary bottling… but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Upon arrival we found the distillery grounds dotted with food and cocktail trucks, several bars and a large stage. Several local bands were slated to perform. I’m not much of a dancer, but the music was really upbeat and energizing. So I did my infamous ‘happydance’, much to the dismay of many other visitors.

It was so very nice to catch up with many of the distillery’s staff and friends: Colin, Wendy, Ashleigh, Yana, Madge, John and so many others and I was even introduced to the (new) distillery manager Suzan Williamson. We chatted and shared some lovely drinks.

Speaking of which: several wonderful cocktails were made using the various Auchentoshan malts (of course) and I found it quite hard to choose my favorite one. But why choose anyway, right? But for me, being an avid fan of this triple distilled malt, an important goal was to secure a bottle (or two, or even three) of the celebratory bottle, of course. It’s an Auchentoshan 25 Year Old 1997, a single oloroso sherry puncheon that yielded 573 bottles at cask strength. I was (happily) surprised that the strength after a quarter century was still 55.1% ABV. And yes, it was a belter! I gladly refer you to my tasting notes here.

Priced at £400, many of the bottles were sold on site during the festival, but I’m sure not all of them were gone on the night itself. Having said that, you can only buy it at the distillery. So if you want to get one, you’ll have to pop into the distillery shop sometime soon. Beware: it’s limited to two bottles per customer (so I’m lucky that Dearly Beloved came along, because two just wouldn’t do, right?).

And looking at the packaging, I realized that the artwork on the distillery wall, a stylized vision of Auchentoshan’s famous three stills, is the same that is used for the box and label of this extraordinary malt. Well done, indeed. After many hours of chatting, sipping, dancing and enjoying ourselves tremendously at Auchentoshan, Dearly Beloved and I decided to walk (stumble?) back to our hotel. It was a lovely 40 min detox walk. We decided then and there on the spot that it would not take very long for us to return here.

Congratulations, Auchentoshan, with your 200th Anniversary!

PS. Check out my Rambling on YouTube here. Enjoy!

May the Malt be with you!