The Toshan Man

Happy

The newest release from my favourite distillery is a 37 Year Old single cask, bourbon barrel #5613, which I had the pleasure of tasting in June 2011 in the Blender’s Room during my visit to the distillery in Glasgow (along with a whole bunch of cask samples by the way). I thought it was magnificent (and so did Niek who used the sample for his Toshan Experiment 1974, remember the video?). Anyway, little did we know that Rachel Barrie would decide to bottle this as a single cask. Not really surprising when you read on.

It is very aromatic on the nose. Soft fruit marmalade, oranges in the lead of course. But also prunes and even some gingerbread. Candied orange peel in chocolate. Orangettes as we say. Roasted almonds, but also toffee, hints of espresso and pudding. Very enticing!

Feisty on the palate, despite the modest ABV. Very cream as well. Again some fruit jams, but now mostly berries. Chocolate and coffee return, but with a small amount of pepper and ginger in the mix. Mint, maybe? Toffee, again. Slightly bitter oranges too. Wonderful!

The finish is long, warm, spicy and sweet and shows only a surprising small amount of oak.

This again proves that Rachel Barrie knows how to select her casks, but more importantly that Auchentoshan spirit really ages beautifully if given enough time. This makes me very, very happy.

P.S. This is my 100th Auchentoshan tasted!