The Toshan Man

Liquorice

Summer has arrived, so high time to try some Lowlanders. I have put aside no less than 9 Auchentoshan bottlings for this occasion. I will start with a very young – only 5 years old – one from Carn Mor, that I discovered at the whisky festival in Ghent. It is bottled from a sherry puncheon that yielded almost 700 bottles.

Very sweet nose on the typical traits of Auchentoshan on the one hand – loads of citrus, barley sugars and some grasses – but also sherry influence on the other – dried pineapple, rhubarb marmalade and sultanas. Only one downside: a small touch of sulphur that needs time to evaporate.

Good mouth feel, very oily. Even a touch piquant with white pepper and cloves, loads of ginger and liquorice. The fruit is all yellow and orange. Apricots, peach, mango, pineapple, oranges – lots of oranges. It must have been quite an active cask to overpower the Auchentoshan spirit so much in such short period of time. But it is quite good, actually.

The finish is medium long, dark and sweet, spicy and a touch atypical for Auchentoshan.

Nice spring whisky that, despite the young age and thanks to a very active sherry cask, offers up something beautiful. But you will not recognize it blind. Around 50 EUR.