For this article, the idea was to highlight one of my personal favorite single malt whiskies. The often-underrated distillery from the Lowlands region of Scotland; Auchentoshan.
There are many reasons to be a fan of Auchentoshan! The branding is cool. The bottle is shaped different than all the other bottles. The name is fun to pronounce. The price point vs quality is attractive. But mostly, the quality is honest and very consistent. It is a brand that distinguishes themselves from the rest.
A LITTLE AUCHENTOSHAN HISTORY
The word Auchentoshan means “Corner of the field” in Gaelic. Born in 1823, the distillery is in the Lowlands region, in the suburb of Glasgow called Clydebank. Their slogan is “Every single drop triple distilled”, and they are the only Scottish distillery that triple distill their whisky.
The ownership of the distillery changed hands several times throughout the years. Since 1994, it has been part of the large Suntory Group, benefitting from the distribution infrastructure that houses Jim Beam, Hibiki, and a host of other spirits.
HOW AUCHENTOSHAN WHISKY IS MADE
The way the distillery makes their spirit is divided into 3 steps. First, they make beer. At its’ purest, whisky production is beer, distilled. For this, they use malted barley which is unpeated.
The second step is the Triple Distillation. This process takes the original beer that has approximately 8% alcohol level, all the way to 81%. As a reference, most brands reach 70%. With the three-distillation process, all the impurities are gone, which allows for the full flavors to shine through. Overtime, the alcohol % drops, and the whisky becomes incredibly smooth.
The third and final step is what Auchentoshan simply describes as “time”. As many of you already know, for a whisky to be called a single malt, it needs to mature for a minimum of 3 years in oak barrels. Most of the whiskies from Auchentoshan are aged in a variety of oak barrels, sherry barrels, wine barrels and bourbon barrels, and for way longer than 3 years.
To better understand how much of an effect the ageing process has on the spirit, considering the following. Take an empty barrel that has been used to make bourbon. Now fill it on quarter of the way with water and, roll it back and forth a few times daily for 40 days. Once the 40 days pass, you will have bourbon! Imagine what can happen after several years, or decades of the original liquid sitting in one of those barrels. The possibilities of that, with all the variants of the type of barrel, the time spent, etc…, are one of the reasons that single malt whiskies are so interesting to many people.
LOWLANDS REGION
As the name suggests, the region is in the lower part of Scotland, and it carries an interesting history when it comes to spirits.
At the end of the 18th century, distilleries in the region were taxed on the size of their stills, and not on the volume of alcohol they produced. The amount taxed was the equivalent of $1 Million in today’s value. However, there was a cap on how much a distillery could get taxed.
Therefore, in order to lower the overall taxes they paid, the distilleries used to turn over their stills as often as possible, reducing their cost per liter.
The result was a spirit that was not as smooth and tasty as what we have become accustomed today. Because the alcohol spent only a little bit of time distilling, the spirit was rather, let’s say harsh, and rough. There was not often time to ensure the smoothness was present and the impurities removed. Many distilleries turned to the production of gin, and starting adding flavoring. The Lowland region of that time produced one quarter of all the alcohol consumed in England and became a powerhouse for blended whiskies.
Times and circumstances lead to evolution. In 1886, there were 31 distilleries in Lowlands. Today, there remain only 5; Auchentoshan, Glenkinchie, Aisla Bay, Bladnoch and Daftmill. With time, the region developed its own style. The same way the Islay region is known for their peated whiskies, the Lowlands is recognized as producing more citrusy and orchard fruit type flavors in their single malts.
Three Auchentoshan whiskies were selected, for which we thought it would be fun to share what we taste and learned from them. The tasting notes are personal, and each person’s palette will pick up different flavors. It is fun to close your eyes and see what you taste, so give it a go!
AMERICAN OAK (40 % abv)
As the name suggests, the whisky was aged in American Bourbon barrels. The golden color comes from the bourbon ageing process.
Nose: Vanilla, Green Apple.
Taste: Citrus, Peach
End: A really smooth finish with a little spice right at the end.
BARTENDER’S MALT (47 % abv)
This single malt is named as such because it was crafted by the “New Malt Order”. A group of 12 of the world’s most innovative bartenders are selected and together, they created this expression for Auchentoshan.
In case, the maturation occurred in Bourbon casks, German Oak casks and Sherry casks.
Nose: Cherry, dried apricots.
Taste: Sweet, Cherry, Honey, red berry fruits.
End: A rounded finish, which makes for a longer, more complex finish.
