Auchentoshan 21 Year

Nose: Lightly resinous wood, cedar, some vanilla, a chocolate note. Malty and grainy and more satisfying than any other Auchentoshan I've nosed. There's a fresh white bread / madeira cake / panettone note along with bergamot and ginger. Pleasant and fresh rather than mature. Palate: The palate does not hold up to the promise of the nose. It's similarly fresh but the arrival is a simple combination of young cereal flavours, green grass and mild herbs that tastes very young. Had I tasted this blind I would never have guessed that it was 21 years old. There are agreeable malty notes but no complexity and like every Auchentoshan I've tasted the wood influence seems intrusive. It's simultaneously juvenile and confused. The texture is OK, a little oily and silken. Finish: Short. Ginger cake, pine resin and some grassy notes. I have to confess that I'm not at all fond of Auchentoshan whisky. There is a particular note in their new-make spirit that reminds me of pine-tree sap and I find it permeates every aspect of all their expressions. When this is combined with cask influence the resinous note is amplified, and the more varied and complex the casking the worse it becomes for me. I'm sure that this is not a common perception as many folks enjoy this distillery's offerings. It's probably some obscure association I have with a particular ester that triggers my resin-phobia. However once again I'm confounded by Auchentoshan. The nose is very pleasant, hardly commanding but time has muted the resin note considerably. However on the palate it's just a young and forgettable malt. There is nothing at all actively bad about it, but there is nothing that I could find that was worthy of high praise either. Tasted from a 30ml sample, thanks to @Soba45 for the tasting sample. It's not a whisky I would ever have bought as an experiment, particularly at what seems an unusually high price. "Average" : 79/100 (2.75 stars)

I purchased this bottle from a friend who is trying to thin out his whisky collection. This “Limited Release A” bottle has been considered one of the best Lowland style whiskies in existence. It’s bottled at a rather uninspiring 43% and is deep gold in the Glencairn. It slowly formed skinny legs and left behind some tiny beads of water around the rim after a lengthy swirl and time in the glass. The nose is typical Auchentoshan: honey and florals and not much else. It was very mellow with little to no barrel presence, either. I did get a hint of oak spice if I inhaled deeply enough, but overall, this was a shallow breather. The palate was also extremely mellow, oaky, but smooth at first. Some light berries and vanilla were left lingering behind on the tongue. Overall, this was a pretty boring sipping experience. There is also no heat due to the low ABV. The finish was short, lightly warming as you exhale with a bit of wood tannins and well-worn leather closing things out. In total, this bottle was a bust. I must say, however, that I wrote most of my notes while sipping on the last dram from the bottle about a month after opening it. I don’t recall it being this boring initially- or even as I worked my way down. I simply drank through it almost as a daily dram and was content to just use it as such. I can’t imagine it being worth the current $135+ asking price, nor the discounted $100 I paid. It’s solid, unoffending whisky that can be found elsewhere for much cheaper. The only thing you could’ve done with this bottle was brag about the age statement if you poured some for uninitiated friends or colleagues. Search elsewhere for higher quality. 2.75-3 stars.

Now some distilleries potentially are at a disadvantage before I even try them as I don't view them favourably. However you could flip that coin on it's head and say the lower the expectations the higher the chance they'll be met or exceeded. 3.4 is the highest I've given this distillery... does this beat that. Barely...3.5 I think. Whiskey exchange tasting notes are on the money. It has a nice nutty oiliness, citrus, grass, honey but an underlying oakey bitterness resides which is off-putting. It did however diminish as I got through the sample so who knows how a full bottle might pan out but at $200USD over here in NZ i won't be testing that theory out. I have another sample so perhaps another day another dram a different score perhaps.

Nose is all fruity, mostly musty berries and floral. Sherry cask influence is heavy. Palate is also fruity, honey, acidic and I found it to be harsh for a 21 year old. I expected more of a rounded palate. It could be because this is my first dram after like 6 days, but the extra bite that I didn’t expect from the age and the relatively low ABV just threw me off. I tried it with a bit of water and on the rocks too. Still it didn’t really open up for me. Got that super sweet, hit you in the face candy flavors with a lot of bite, and sadly I wasn’t a big fan. Honestly I prefer the 12 and triple wood.

Complex but excellent whisky. To the nose, strong dehydrated orange , predominant over everything else. On the palate pure velvet, with honey and dark chocolate, and candied orange. Long and sweet finish, honey predominates. Exceptional drink. _____________________________________________________________________________ Whisky complesso ma eccellente. Al naso forte d’arancia disidratata, predominante su tutto il resto. Al palato puro velluto, miele e cioccolato fondente, ed arancia candita. Finale lungo e dolce, predomina il miele. Bevuta eccezionale.

I opened up a sample I bought , 3cl version of this. I wish I bought the entire bottle. I had normally been underwhelmed by this Lowlander, but I stand corrected with its 21 yr old version. Nose is gentle vanilla. But the taste is where I think it really shines. I got lemon custard pudding and sweet cream. I had half of it with just a drop off water, the other half with a small ice. Don't have it with ice---the lemon custard turns into bitter lemon rinds. Not sure what a full bottle is, but well worth it if it's a reasonable price.