Saturday, April 23, 2011

Auchentoshan 21yr

stats: single malt scotch, Lowland, 86 proof, triple distilled. $106

When I first tried this whisky, I was a bit disappointed. Now that I've drank most of the bottle (no, not tonight, over several months), it's really grown on me. I think my initial reaction was caused partly because it was a style of scotch that I hadn't come to appreciate yet, and partly because my expectations were very high after paying more that $100 for the bottle. It's surprising that a delicate (triple distilled) whisky can be aged for this long without being overpowered by wood flavors. The flavors are very well balanced which makes me suspect that it's been aged aged in barrels that were already used several times. It has a nice, floral, malty nose. Despite the absence of peat flavors, this whisky still has plenty of backbone. A nice combination of grassy, floral, honey and malty flavors, which are well balanced by the toasty oak notes. Overall, a great, flavorful whisky that I could sip on all day.

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