The Toshan Man

I tried this malt years ago for the first time during a whisky dinner in The Hielander, the famous Scottish restaurant in Alkmaar, Holland, with the indomitable Wullie Macmorland behind the stove. I was so enchanted with it that I ran to the shop the very next day to buy a bottle. But as there was only one, it went into the collection and remained unopened. Fast forward to 2019 and my buddy Manny finds another bottle in another shop. Did I want it? Obviously. So now I can retry the malt without ‘damaging’ the collection. This Auchentoshan first matured on bourbon casks and was then finished for several months on an Amontillado sherry cask.

Wonderfully sweet nose with lots of dark fruits like raspberries and blackberries, a truckload of marzipan and hazelnuts, some espresso and overripe pears – the ones of which the juice drips from your chin when you bit it them. A very pleasant surprise. And if you have 15 minutes to spare to leave it to breathe, you’ll be rewarded with extra vanilla, toffee and a hint of candied sugar.

It is honeysweet on the palate as well, but at the same time somewhat sharp. Cloves and pepper. In all honesty a tad too spicy to allow the fruit to shine. It’s like waiting for Godot. You sense that something wonderfully fruity is waiting on the horizon, but it just never gets there. It’s quite powerful for just 46%, which gives me the idea that the alcohol may not have integrated perfectly.

The finish is medium long, pretty spicy and drying with milk chocolate and raspberries at the death.

A good Auchentoshan, don’t get me wrong. But it just does not reach its full potential. I fear it may have spent just a few months too long on that sherry cask.