Auchentoshan 18 Year Old 2000 Malts of Scotland

Malts of Scotland – the German independent bottler – found a beauty of a sherry hogshead in the warehouse, that was filled with my favorite Lowlander’s triple distilled spirit in 2000. The Auchentoshan matured for 18 years before the cask yielded 329 bottles at cask strength. Two bottles made it my way and I’m very happy with them.

Hello, there, darling! You smell great! And what lovely legs… Sexy! I hasten to add that I’m talking about the whisky, not to my wife (although she is all that too). A beautiful aroma of overripe peach, mildly rotting oranges (I really like that) and lots of red and blueberries. That is quickly followed by cinnamon and saffron. A touch of caramel and vanilla kick in. Fresh, elegant, provocative and very mature (still talking about the whisky, mind you). I am already in seventh heaven.

The first sip is soft and mildly spicy, very fuity and sweet, but it quickly becomes more severe and spicy, making my saliva glands go into overdrive. The ABV shows on the palate. Wonderfully fruity notes – again berries, cherries and peach – are wrapped up in delicious sweetness like caramel paste and mokatine. Cinnamon and saffron return, upholstered with some nutmeg. And suddenly, midpalate, a handful of raisins and nuts appear. Hazelnuts and walnuts. Boy, this is truly complex and delicious. Is there such a thing as eight heaven?

And then there is that unbridledly fruity, riotous and grand finish that just lingers forever.

Did I only order two bottles of this? Gonna hurry and get me two more! With a big thank you for the very generous sample to my whisky buddy Manny.

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