Etikettarkiv: Lowland whisky review

Auchentoshan, Lowlands

Auchentoshan 21 YO – Limited Release

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Lowlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
(Needs to be revised)

Nose: Fruity with a mix of green apples, gooseberries, ripe plums and figs, vanilla, a hint of cola, honey, butterscotch and marzipan. Complex but very approachable.

Mouth: Musty with dust, old wood, honey, vanilla, a mixed fruit note leaning towards tropical fruits, espresso, a hint of walnuts and rye. It’s dry but not astringent.

Finish: Gooseberries, tropical fruits and raspberries surrounded by old dusty wood. There’s cola, coffee, walnuts, almonds, rye and a perfumey note that sits on top. It’s a long dry oak finish that eventually brings astringency.

Additional information
Every year Auchentoshan releases a limited number of bottles of this expression. It’s triple distilled and aged in american ex-bourbon oak barrels and second fill ex-sherry casks. It’s part of the core range.

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Daftmill, Lowlands

Daftmill 2010 – Summer Batch Release

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ABV: 46 %
Origin: Lowlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

See the queue here.

Additional information
This whisky was aged in 25 ex-bourbon barrels. It was distilled in 2010 and bottled in 2021. 6250 bottles were released. It has natural colour.

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Auchentoshan, Lowlands

Auchentoshan 18 YO – Limited Release

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Lowlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and floral. At first there’s a mix of fruity red apples cola and honey. It’s quite floral and fresh. A hint of vanilla and butterscotch is somewhat hiding in the background. It becomes more musty and dark with time in the glass and it shows its age quite clearly. This is a nice nose with a lot to offer.

Mouth: It starts out with a fruitiness with ripe apples which sits together with sweet butterscotch, vanilla and honey. A tiny hint of chili spicessalted caramel. A slightly bitter oakiness is detectable in the back, the age is once again coming through with a dusty old note in the center.

Finish: The sweetness continues and the whole thing is very mild. It’s butterscotch, vanilla and honey mixed with fresh fruits, slightly bitter dry oak mixed with the cola note. The finish shows the age, with remembrance of dusty bookshelves and old books but it’s a bit too mild to really give an impression. This is a very good whisky. Especially for people who wants to experience what age does to a whisky.

Additional information
Triple distilled and aged in american ex-bourbon barrels for the entire 18 years. It was launched as part of the core range in 2008.

Auchentoshan, Lowlands

Auchentoshan Springwood

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Lowlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is green fruits and cola. At first there’s a vanilla and cola sweetness with sour green apples and a metallic note piercing through. There’s a cloud of mild menthol covering everything else. With time in the glass some honey comes through. Deep in the background there’s some cardboard to be found. It’s a very uneventful nose and it feels young and lacks complexity.

Mouth: It starts out somewhat flat and it takes a second or two before a sweetness builds up around the edges. It’s starts out as a generic sweetness, but ends up in a honey note. In the center, the cola note and the sour apples gets accompanied by the oak. It’s bitter and it seems to cling to the cola note. It feels a bit underaged. A toffee note comes through after a fair amount of time and the apples gently disappear into the background.

Finish: The menthol flare up before it reveals a quite bitter finish. The cola note is still in there and the toffee note grows stronger. The fruitiness is now residing a long way back. The oakiness is a bit astringent and bitter. There is a black coffee note in there, but overall it’s not a pleasant bitterness. There’s a dusty sprinkle coming through in the late finish and the apple/cola combination return in the late finish. It still feels underaged and a bit too simple. This is not a great dram.

Additional information
The Springwood was a travel exclusive release matured in north american ex-bourbon casks. It’s no longer part of the distillery’s line-up.

Auchentoshan, Lowlands

Auchentoshan American Oak

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Lowlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is light and sweet. There’s a floral layer with heather in the back. Up front it’s Coca cola, honey and vanilla. There’s a ginger note somewhere in the middle and some lemon comes through after a while with a metallic side to it. It’s quite shallow and there’s not much to go hunt after. It’s extremely mild. This is a boring but acceptable nose.

Mouth: It starts out quite watery and then the honey sweetness is first to come through. A small spicyness prickles the tip of the tounge. There’s a little more substance in the taste compared to the nose. The Coca Cola note and the honey is still in there. A tiny hint of oak rests in the back. There’s also a backdrop of lemon and flowers.

Finish: It starts out mild with a tiny veil of menthol and then it turns over to a honey sweetness before switching to the oak. The oakiness is quite fresh and it almost feels like it’s been sitting outside in the rain. There’s a small nutty tone to it’s but not leaning towards any specific kind. This is way too mild and a little bit boring. It’s a good whisky to offer as an introduction to Scotch.

Additional information
As all Auchentoshan whiskies, this is triple distilled. It’s the entry level whisky in the core range and it’s matured in first fill american ex-bourbon oak barrels. It was released in may 2014.

Auchentoshan, Lowlands

Auchentoshan Three Wood

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Lowlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fresh cola and mixed fruits. At first, a fresh mix of Coca cola and strawberries greets the nose. At the edges there’s a darker fruitiness with overripe plums and liqueur-soaked raisins. Honey, vanilla and sweet liquorice is sort of residing between the fruity layers, but they never seem to touch each other. The oakiness is also in there and it too has it’s own space. It’s a very ”clean” and clear nose making it easy to separate the different flavours.

Mouth: It starts out very mild and the first thing to arrive is a thin oak note and a dark, fruity sweetness. It’s overripe fruits and honey together with vanilla and cola. A small hint of lemon comes through from the back. The brighter red berry note found on the nose is not present at all. With time, the oakiness seems to move out towards the edges.

Finish: It’s now sweet and vanilla heavy. It’s still a very mild experience and the red fruits has now returned and they push the darker ripe fruits towards the edges. The cola note is still creating a red thread through the experience. The oakiness in the late finish is slightly dusty, but still seems quite fresh. Basically every flavour follows along in the late finish. This is a bit uneventful and somewhat lacks connection between the flavours, but it is quite tasty overall.

Additional information
This was released in 2002. It’s aged in american ex-bourbon oak barrels, then in ex-Oloroso sherry casks and lastly moved into ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. All Auchentoshan whiskies are triple distilled.

Glenkinchie, Lowlands

Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition 2008/2020

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Lowlands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there are mixed fruits and berries in the center with a sweet honey and vanilla layer surrounding it. There’s also a thin veil of pipe tobacco and menthol around the edges of the glass. After some time in the glass the fruitiness mellows and becomes a bit rounded and darker. There’s also a nutty quality to it. The fresher fruits are still detectable in the background and with time a floral note also appears. This is a very nice nose with a light, yet interesting character.

Mouth: It starts out with a big hit of fresh berries together with vanilla and honey. In the background there’s an overripe fruitiness with plums and raisins peeking through. After a few seconds the layers sort of switch places. There’s still a whiff of pipe tobacco and a nutty oakiness to be found for those who wait. It’s got a nice texture to it and even though it still got a light character it doesn’t feel watery or too mild.

Finish: The finish starts with the menthol returning. It creates a nice cloud together with a floral note, sitting on top of the rest of the flavours. It mirrors the rest of the journey with the mix of fresh and dark ripe fruits, the vanilla and the honey all coming through nicely in the center. It does feel somewhat top heavy at this point though. When it starts to fade out the oakiness returns and it’s a nice hazelnut oakiness with just a hint of bitterness and black coffee. This is a very good whisky with a light character. It feels somewhat unbalanced at times during the journey, but it’s not a big issue.

Additional information
This distiller’s edition is double matured with an initial aging period in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in ex-Amontadillo sherry casks.

Auchentoshan, Lowlands

Auchentoshan 12 YO

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Lowlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and subtle. A mild honey sweetness and a cola note are first to come through. There’s a hint of newly cut grass in the background and an outer layer of vanilla fudge. Every flavour coming through is mellow and laid back. After some time in the glass a black liquorice note starts to appear. This is very straight forward and easy on the nose.

Mouth: A very mild and almost watery start. After a second or two a touch of lemon and a prominent cola note arrive. There’s vanilla fudge in the center and it’s quite floral on the edges. A bitter note sits together with the oak in the back. It’s slightly astringent, but other than that there’s no real impact.

Finish: At first there’s close to nothing, and after a few seconds the same cola note reappears together with a thinner version of the vanilla fudge. The oak slowly emerges from behind and it has the same toned down profile as the rest of the flavours. There’s not a lot of character to the oakiness and the cola note seems to attach to it down the line. This is probably one of the best choices for people who want to get into whisky since it’s extremely mild and has a low impact on the senses.

Additional information
This 12 YO was added to the core range in 2011. It’s triple distilled and aged in mainly american ex-bourbon oak barrels, but there’s also ex-Oloroso sherry casks in the mix.

Independent bottlers, Lowlands

Douglas Laing’s The Epicurean

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ABV: 46,2 %
Origin: Lowland
Type: Blended Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: Floral and sweet with a touch of honey, vanilla and sweet liquorice. There’s a note of fresh garden soil and a hint of seaweed in the background.

Mouth: Lemon, vanilla and honey. Nice and friendly. Slightly spicy on second sip with the oak becoming more present. The sweet liquorice is still in the mix.

Finish: Vanilla, honey sweetness and fresh oak with a hint of coconut. Not very complex but nice throughout all steps.

Additional information
The Epicurean is part of Douglas Laing’s ”Remarkable regional malts of Scotland” series. It’s a blend of malts from distilleries located in the Lowlands. It has natural colour and it’s unchillfiltered.