Auchentoshan 12 Year Old 2001 Douglas Laing Single Minded

Fred Laing and Jan Beckers selected three bourbon hogsheads to create this Single Minded bottling. It is a very pale Auchentoshan from 2001, that I tasted for the first time at Qwhizky, our yearly whisky quiz. Not one team was able to guess it was an Auchentoshan and when revealed people were surprised with the fruitiness and quality, which made me quite happy. Now it is time for me to taste it in the comfort of my whisky basement.

I find the nose to bo top notch Auchentoshan: loads of citrus, grain cookies and lemongrass. Vanilla with a mild pepper. Hints of almonds. A bit on the light side, though.

On the palate, though, it is quite punchy and indeed very fruity. Both white fruit (mostly pears) and yellow fruit. Think unripe pineapple, peach and a tiny bit of zespri (yellow kiwi). Ginger is the spice of the day.

The finish can be described as long, with a nice spiciness and a bit of orange zest at the death.

This is a very, very pleasant spring dram.

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