The Toshan Man

Bergamot oil

This Auchentoshan is one with an almost legendary reputation. People in the know tell me that this might be the best Toshan ever bottled. Really? Well, this I have to taste for myself! It is a bottling from Douglas Laing under their Old Malt Cask label, distilled in 1967. It would not surprise me, knowing that 1966 was a top year for my favourite distillery. This is the oldest Auchentoshan bottled by Douglas Laing, by the way, over a decade ago. I had not even heard of Auchentoshan, can you imagine?

Ah, they spoke the truth, those lucky people who already sniffed this. Wonderfully sweet, creamy and very much alive. A cigar box filled with apple sauce. Weird image, but what a combination! Sandelwood, beeswax, apples, peaches, quinces, pineapples, a slice of blood oranges, bergamot oil and Earl Grey tea. It keeps developing in the glass. Eucalypus and vanilla from the spice rack. This is complex, yet very very delicate. I can keep sniffing this. A-ma-zing!

20 minutes later…

It caresses the tongue. Mild spices (ginger, aniseed, cinnamon, cloves and even some mustard seeds), touch of oak, but perfectly balanced agains loads of citrus fruit like blood oranges, bergamot, mandarin, lime and pink grapefruit. But that is not all. Apple juice, pineapple, guava. This is fruity in the extreme. Midpalate, the oak joins the party. Woodspice and tea leaves. A-ma-zing-zing!

The finish is very long, fiery on spices and absolutely a-ma-zing-zing-zing!

I am in seventh Toshan heaven. 33 years of maturation and yet so lively! I tasted it from a sample, so that the bottle in the collection can remain closed. But who can help me find another bottle? This is a cracker dram!