Now we are big fans of Auchentoshan, both their 12 year which Justice reviewed a while back, and their Three Wood. Here though we have the simpler offering. While it’s certainly not as great as it’s older siblings, it’s a more affordable price (and if you’re in NH with no goal to buy scotch it becomes affordable to the point where you can’t not buy it.)
This is likely a mixture of Auchentoshan’s malts that haven’t matured for enough time or don’t have the signature taste of their other vintages, but it’s still a distinctive single malt in it’s own right. Auchentoshan was rightly the first scotch I had tried, and despite my love of Islay and Highland single malts – it still holds a special place in my heart, and my bar.
What they Say: Box: “People here say ‘ock-un-tosh-un’, but what’s a little pronunciation between friends? No other Scottish distillery insists on triple distilling every single drop – this gives our Lowland Single Malt Whisky a complex, gentle flavour. We’ve crafted Auchentoshan on the banks of the River Clyde since 1823, in the shadow of the Old Kilpatrick hills between Glasgow and Loch Lomond.”
Box and Back of Bottle: “Auchentoshan Classic. Triple distilled and matured solely in American Bourbon casks. The result: a Lowland single malt whisky with the sweet aromas of vanilla, coconut, and the signature smooth, delicate, Auchentoshan taste. ”
Taste: 5.0 – It’s a light touch here as well (from aroma), but it does lead quickly into the aftertaste.
Aftertaste: 7.5 – Which is a well muted peaty flavor, that is delicious.
Burn/Smooth: 7.0 – This has no burn (which is odd because you don’t have an age), and the warmth it gives is great for a lowland, but lacking overall.
Aroma: 6.0 – As is typical for a lowland, there is no power here, and instead you get some nice aromatics – of which vanilla is certainly a present smell.
Honesty: 7.5 – They don’t wax on forever like some scotches in recent memory, and they are even humble enough to tell us silly americans how to actually pronounce the name (as friends though), and Auchentoshan’s iconic bottle and box look is still working well here.
Mixability: 8.5
W/ Rocks: 8.5 – This was also the first lesson I had to the notion that a single ice cube or some drops of water is the perfect thing to ‘open’ up a scotch, and it’s so true here. Flavors and taste are just magnified and it’s fantastic.
Value: 6.5 – The simple point is that I have had worse scotches for 15 dollars more than this, and that’s going off the actual price – if you can find this cheaper – go for it.
Google Shop Average: $35
Website: http://www.auchentoshan.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 7.0
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Metric Score: 48/70 |+| Metric Average: 6.85 |+| Reviewer Average: 7.0
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Final Thoughts: While I did get that about 8 bucks cheaper from New Hampshire – this is still a great scotch to recommend to those who want to get into scotches that are more than Chivas or Walker without throwing them to Lagavulin and hoping they swim.
