The Toshan Man

Graceful

In November 2012 I visited Spirits in the Sky in Leuven (Belgium), where my friend and Brand Ambassador Gordon Dundas presented this release during the Auchentoshan Masterclass. It is a grand Toshan, matured solely on first fill oloroso sherry casks. The colour leaves no doubt. Gordon poured from bottle 4/1000 and bottle 2/1000 is now part of my collection. Since the first bottle is safely tucked away in the Auchentoshan Archives, I am very happy with number two!

The nose bursts with dark fruits, raisins in the lead. Next up are wonderful aromas of fresh leather, slightly burned cake, roasted almonds, liquorice allsorts and dark honey. Wonderfully seasoned with cinnamon and saffron and a pinch of aniseed. The delicate triple distilled spirit of Auchentoshan carries the three decades in a sherry cask with grace.

It is wonderfully creamy and mouth coating and immediately spicy. Again dark fruits and hints of dark chocolate, perfectly countered by the dry tannins of the oak. Liquorice and aniseed, again. Boy, this makes me absolutely happy.

The finish is drying and very long on liquorice, cinnamon and even some tobacco leaves.

This is an incredibly good Toshan. One of the best things to come out of this Glaswegian distillery of late.

Note: I find it to be very similar to this cask sample that I tried two years ago at the distillery.

Update 31/01/2013: this whisky just won the Single Malt of the Year Award from Whisky Advocate. Well done, Rachel Barrie!