Auchentoshan 12 Year Old 2005 Distillery PX Cask #135

One of the joys in my life is collecting and tasting the distillery casks that Auchentoshan offers at the end of the tour. These ‘bottle your own’ are excellent casks, all of them, and this is one that was bottled in 2017. It is a PX sherry butt that was filled in 2005. So the malt is 12 years old when I had it filled. It set me back some £80.

Candy floss and maple syrup embrace in this without a shred of a doubt fantastic nose! Nicely creamy on toffee, raisins, black prunes, dark chocolate and black berries. You can just smell the sherry. Turns a bit floral and even somewhat delicate. Nicely layered and inviting.

The first sip was simply intense and honeysweet. Dark chocolate, berries and hints of candied red fruit are joined by nutmeg, cloves and a hint of cinnamon. Some spearmint shines through in the background. Slowly the fruit evolves towards the dried variety.

The finish is long, spicy and a touch zesty.

Very beautiful single cask. It was one of the highlights of my birthday tasting. What a pity I only ordered two bottles…

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