The Toshan Man

Weekday Dram

This Auchentoshan, that was finished on a Mourvèdre wine cask after its regular maturation of 8 years on a bourbon cask, and bottled by Murray McDavid at the Bruichladdich Distillery’s bottling plant. Mourvèdre – in Catalonia (Spain) referred to as Mataro or Monastrell – is a grape with loads of good tannins, allowing the wine that is produced from it to last long. In France – where the casks came from for the finishing of this Lowlander – the grape is used mostly in the region of the Rhône.

The nose is instantly recognizable as Auchentoshan: delicate, floral, flowery and very sweet. Unfortunately, just like with the Chenin Blanc bottling I tried earlier, the influence of the wine cask is hardly noticeable. A slight sour touch, maybe? What is obvious, is the fact that this is a very young whisky.

On the palate, it’s silky soft and the attack is very agreeable, even slightly peppered. The added value of the wine cask becomes obvious now. Apart from the classic Toshan traits, I know also get all sorts of berries (gooseberry, blueberry) that preserve the balance between sweet and sour. A bitter lining makes this Toshan complete. I bet that’s the tannins from the Mourvèdre grape, since I believe the cask wouldn’t have such an influence after only eight years, right?

The finish is a nice continuation of the palate, but rather short. It dies a somewhat sour death.

The is a rather ordinary Toshan and not at all earth shattering, but very drinkable indeed. Auchentoshan tends to experiment with wine finishes more often than not and the crew at Murray McDavid has bottled quite a few, like the Auchentoshan on Climens, Syrah, Viognier and Chenin Blanc casks. Official releases are usually matured on Bordeaux.