Auchentoshan 25 Year Old 1988 Wine Cask Finish

Auchentoshan has another affaire with red wine. It certainly is not the first time. Auchentoshan is one of the few distilleries that is happily married to red wine, it must be said. The delicate nature of the spirit certainly has a lot to do with that. The 1988 vintage was already released in 1.800 bottles back in 2008, but there was enough stock left to leave for another 5 years. The spirit matured for 8 years on bourbon casks before being transferred to red wine barriques (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot) for 17 years. That makes it the longest finish in the industry, according to the note Rachel Barrie added to my parcel. In my opinion, this is more a double maturation, no? Anyway, I was very much looking forward to this one.

The nose offers a wonderful mix of red fruit, plums, pipe tobacco and black grapes. Underneath some roasted nuts and cocoa hide. Sweet and rich, that is a nice summary. The wood also speaks with mild tannins, but it is certainly not oaky!

The arrival is very soft. Smooth is the magic word. The oak offers quite some spices, with cloves and black pepper in the lead. Cherries, plums and caramelized oranges peel clamor for attention. Mildly mineral, if you know what I mean. This is a 100 carat glühwein!

The finish is wonderfully long, spicy and sweet with cherries at the death.

Wow, I am really impressed. I found the previous release quite good, but this is an outstanding wine finish. It will set you back 315 EUR, though, which is more than double what I paid for the previous 1988 release. But what a Toshan! Bring on the holidays!

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