Auchentoshan Batch 1 That Boutique-y Whisky Company

The concept of That Boutique-y Whisky Company is rather straightforward. It is a brand new range from the British online retailer Master of Malt. They create a single malt by blending left overs from split casks, forgotten stocks and the like, to create a special NAS-version of a whisky. Pretty unique, if you ask me. The goal is said to emphasize the distillery character. There have been numerous releases already from a whole plethora of Scottish distilleries, including a grain (Invergordon). I will taste the only one in my collection (can you guess why?), the Auchentoshan Batch 1, bottled at 47,1% ABV.

The nose is floral and sweet, but also shows hints of wet cardboard, which is a bit off putting. Luckily that quickly fades to reveal fruits like peach, prunes and mirabelles. Hints of coconut and ginger. Rather syrupy. Raisins, hints of candied fruit. Not so bad.

Rather alcoholic on the palate, while the ABV is rather low. Very spicy now. Cloves, ginger (a lot of ginger, in fact) making it pretty sharp. Honeysweet, but that comes as no surprise.

The finish is long, slightly drying and spicy. For the first time, the oak rears its head and takes care of a mildly bitter end.

I feel the sherry influence is such that the delicate distillery character gets lost somewhat. Having said that, this is a nice Toshan, the finish being the best part.

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