The Toshan Man

Hazelnuts

In the nineties of last century, Auchentoshan bottled quite a few single casks from 1965 and 1966. One of those is this bourbon hogshead with number 1005, filled at 46,1% after 31 long years of maturation. The bottle hit the shelves in 1997 and is nowadays both rare and prohibitively expensive. I opened up my bottle at my birthday tasting and have never looked back. What was left after my party is – alas – as good as gone now.

The nose starts off quite closed (hey, what did you expect after 31 years in the cask and another 16 in the bottle?), but after a few moments it opens up nicely on dark and juicy fruit, a truckload of caramel and something that reminds me of menthol. A bit of woodsmoke and hazel nuts. Make that nougat. Wonderful and creamy! If this continues on the palate, we have a winner.

Sweet! Yes! This is top. Wonderfully creamy and fruity with loads of spices. Mouth coating on dark fruit with some baking spices and a little orange zest. The wood put its foot down, but leaves the spirit talking.

The finish is somewhere between short and medium long, but there is no way that this will dampen the mood.

Alas all but extinct, this single cask. Wow! A Toshan extraordinaire!