Auchentoshan 1975 Diageo Special Release 2011 Aged 35 Years

Style: Crisp, Dignified and Fruity

Rating: ☆☆ [Highly Recommended]

Nose:

Begins with fresh honeydew, honeycomb and plenty of vanilla oak shaving. Peppermint flowers accentuate in the middle with a nice waxy texture. Wood ingrains and wintergreen undertone. Spicy, but not aggressive. Slightly mineralic, some potato kind of earthy-starchiness as well. A small splash of lemonade on barley and malt.

Palate:

A beautiful burst of melon sweetness, round, oily and flavourful. Difficult to imagine this is a triple-distilled spirit. Butterscotch and malty core. Tropical fruits and floral fragrance edging towards a lighter overtone, passionfruit lemonade and some orange confectionaries as well. Taros and assorted garden herbs buried underneath. Oak is less outspoken but is still prevalent in the background, wood chips, ginger, barley and dryness forming at the back creating a crisp lager back palate. Vanilla malt tail, quite delicious.

Finish:

Tropical fruits punchbowl, malt, bubblegum and watermint. Light, sweet and crisp.

Thoughts:

Great Auchentoshan is rather hard to come by and I am glad to announce we have such a brilliant gem over here. Personally, I am a bit skeptical on triple-distilled malt as it can be too spirit-y and tertiary flavours/nuances are often decimated. Despite being a 35-year-old there is little sign of tiredness and remains quite energetic, whereas the maturation injects extra layers of complexity and composure. Resulting a crisp and light expression with beautiful depth. This is my perfect summer dram.

[46.9% | Original Bottling | 1975D | 2011B | Bottle Number: 233 of 500 | Bourbon casks | Cask Strength | Limited Edition | **]

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