Auchentoshan
The Auchentoshan distillery lies in the Scottish Lowlands at the shores of the River Clyde. It is one of the few Scottish distilleries that tripple distills its whisky.
| Information about the Distillery | |
|---|---|
| Scotland, Lowlands | |
| -4.438004 55.922578 | |
| Active | |
| Suntory | |
|
1 x 17,500 l
1 x 8,200 l
Normal
|
|
|
1 x 11,500 l
Normal
|
|
|
6 x 38,000 l
|
|
| 7 t | |
| 1823 | |
| 1,500,000 l | |
| http://www.auchentoshan.co.uk/ |
| Average tasting notes Tasting Notes |
Calculated from 507
i
|
|
|---|---|---|
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Nosing
Sweet:
Fruit:
Sherry:
Vanilla:
Zitrus:
Oak:
Raisin:
Orange:
Spices:
Nuts:
Plum:
Herbs:
Malt:
Dried Fruit:
Honey:
Coconut:
Caramel:
Lemon:
Cinnamon:
Apple:
Pear:
Herb:
Peach:
Peat Smoke:
Chocolate:
Alcohol:
Grapefruit:
Green Apple:
Cherry:
Date:
Almonds:
Grass:
Heather:
Lime:
Floral:
Banana:
Tobacco:
Berries:
Oil:
Leather:
Melon:
Fig:
Coffee:
Barley:
Tropical Fruit:
Anise:
Lemon Peel:
Hazelnut:
Wheat:
Chili:
Mint:
Pineapple:
Hay:
Pepper:
Blackberry:
Grape:
Dark Chocolate:
Cake:
Walnut:
Nutmeg:
Bonfire Smoke:
Kiwi:
Tasting
Sweet:
Fruit:
Oak:
Spices:
Nuts:
Vanilla:
Sherry:
Zitrus:
Oil:
Malt:
Cinnamon:
Herbs:
Herb:
Chocolate:
Orange:
Peat Smoke:
Dark Chocolate:
Caramel:
Hazelnut:
Honey:
Chili:
Lemon:
Dried Fruit:
Raisin:
Pepper:
Alcohol:
Heather:
Ginger:
Nutmeg:
Lime:
Grapefruit:
Floral:
Almonds:
Mint:
Apple:
Green Apple:
Peach:
Berries:
Grass:
Coffee:
Barley:
Tobacco:
Plum:
Hay:
Coconut:
Wheat:
Pear:
Cherry:
Banana:
Leather:
Cake:
Maritime Notes:
Pineapple:
Salt:
Fig:
Cheese:
Anise:
Grape:
Walnut:
Medicinal Smoke:
Blackberry:
Date:
Seaweed:
Kiwi:
Tropical Fruit:
Lemon Peel:
Finish
Oak:
Sweet:
Spices:
Fruit:
Nuts:
Malt:
Sherry:
Peat Smoke:
Oil:
Herb:
Chocolate:
Vanilla:
Pepper:
Dark Chocolate:
Chili:
Zitrus:
Coffee:
Alcohol:
Almonds:
Herbs:
Grapefruit:
Coconut:
Cinnamon:
Lemon:
Raisin:
Heather:
Date:
Honey:
Apple:
Plum:
Orange:
Caramel:
Pear:
Tropical Fruit:
Dried Fruit:
Banana:
Barley:
Floral:
Ginger:
Peach:
Salt:
Hazelnut:
Clove:
Maritime Notes:
Berries:
Grass:
Grape:
Leather:
Tobacco:
Medicinal Smoke:
Green Apple:
Lime:
Wheat:
Cherry:
Cake:
Anise:
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The Whisky
Like the old Lowland tradition all the Auchentoshan whiskies are triple distilled. The triple distillation removes the last bit of fusel oils and other unwanted aromas from the whisky. You will very rarely get an Auchentoshan whisky that is sharp and edgy.
The standard range of Auchentoshan is quite large and consists of many whiskies. All in all the Auchentoshan distillery character can be described as smooth and calm. It's not uncommon that Auchentoshan uses Sherry or wine casks to shift their whiskies to a bit sweeter side. If you reach for the older variants like the 18 y.o. or the 21 y.o., you will also find that Auchentoshan can produce whiskies with enough complexity for expert connoisseurs to enjoy.
There are no major blended malts that include the Auchentoshan malt whisky. But there are a few independent bottlers that got their hands on enough casks to do their own bottlings.
Unfortunately most of the Auchentoshan whiskies are coloured.
The Production
The Auchentoshan distillery is located in the Glen between the hills Kilpatrick and the Clyde just northwest of the city of Glasgow. The clear spring water from the Loch Cochno on the Kilpatrick Hills is used for the distillation. The yearly production of 1.5 million litre of alcohol is quite big for a distillery that doesn't supply the blended whisky industry.
The Pot Stills
At Auchentoshan everyone is very proud of the triple distillation. The wash still has a capacity of 17,000 litres, the intermediate still of 8,000 litres and the spirit still has 11,500 litres. All the stills are heated with steam to enable a constant quality through a controlled heating system.
All pot stills are quite tall for their size and are constricted above the outlet of the pot. Very interesting is the lyne arm. It looks like it is completely levelled out. So theoretically half of the condensed spirits in the lyne arm should flow back in the pot and the other half into the spirit receiver.
The Maltings
The malting is not done in-house, but the malt is bought from the big maltings. The Auchentoshan always uses unpeated malt to match their light distillery character.
The Warehouses
Unfortunately you can only see the inside one of the Auchentoshan warehouses through a big glass window.
As for the choice of casks, most of the Auchentoshan casks are Bourbon barrels. Some of the bottlings are combination of a few types of Sherry and wine casks. But there are also experiments at the Auchentoshan warehouse. For example there is an Auchentoshan Virgin Oak release. This whisky was stored in fresh American oak casks.
History
The distillery was built in the year 1800 by a man named John Bulloch. He named the distillery Duntocher distillery. After the Duntocher distillery went bankrupt in 1822, his son continued the business and registered the Auchentoshan distillery in 1823. From this point on the Auchentoshan distillery was a legitimate distillery in the United Kingdom. So the official date when Auchentoshan was founded is 1823. All the preceding production cannot be officially confirmed.
Over the centuries the Auchentoshan distillery had many owners. Most recently the distillery was sold with the mothercompany Morrison Bowmore to the Japanese company Suntory.
The Visitor Centre
The visitor centre of the Auchentoshan distillery is very nice and includes a shop for all the Auchentoshans you desire. You can also bottle you own whisky directly from the cask. There are three different tours at the distillery. The top tour includes a very detailed production tour as well as a tasting of three standard bottlings and two archive bottlings. What's special about "The Ultimate Auchentoshan Experience" is that you do the tasting in the official blending room of the distillery. If you bring enough money the distillery opens especially for you, even after normal working hours.
User Notes about the Distillery
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