Auchentoshan 9 Year Old 2008 Distillery Bordeaux Cask #3835

Auchentoshan has a love affair with red wine casks from the Bordeaux region. Proof is this single cask from which you could bottle your own at the end of 2018. I first tried it at the Whisky Fair in Limburg (Germany) and decided on the spot that I wanted it. I ordered two shipped from Glasgow, one for the collection, one to share during my birthday tasting.

TUC cookies with cheese! Sorry, this sound nuts, but it’s the first thing I smell once poured. A bit strict as well, if that makes sense. Maybe some unwashed socks and the green container with the grass that was cut last month… oh, oh, where is this going? This one needs to breath, I’d say. I takes more than 15 minutes to open up on some red fruit. Strawberries, raspberries and red berries, drenched in dark honey. Spicy too. Think nutmeg and cloves. Autumn leaves. It becomes quite nice, but is seriously tests the patience.

It’s a touch syrupy, very spicy and sweet on all kinds of red fruit. It tastes like autumn, so to speak. Cloves, glühwein, dark honey. Luckily, the astringency is gone.

The finish is long and warm, a bit sweet, but on the edge of being winey at the same time. A bit stale, to be honest.

This is a time bomb, meaning that you get an explosion of spicy, red fruit, if and only if you take a lot of time for it. Pouring and nosing and tasting immediately will only encourage you to put the bottle in the back of the cabinet and that would be a pity. For it’s quite alright once it has breathed. The finish, however, is something of a let-down.

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