Auchentoshan Select

With the arrival of het new duty free releases of Auchentoshan last March, my contact at Auchentoshan told me the Select, which moved to duty free in favor of the Classic, will slowly but surely be phased out. So I went out of my way to secure a few more bottles. Having said that, we are trying a bottling from 2004 at this time.

This one, despite not being that old, suffers from OBE. Quite surprising, I must say. Maybe we should invent a new term for that. YBE, young bottle effect? Unpleasant, of course. The delicate nose of Auchentoshan is disturbed by Brussels sprouts and gym shoes. So I will leave it for a while. But even after a quarter of an hour, it remains unfresh. Behind that smell, hide a handful of toffee, citrus and young apples.

The typical Auchentoshan character does reveal itself on the palate. A lot of fruit, apples and citrus, a hint of honey and caramel. But it never really recovers.

The finish is short and fresh, mild on spices.

Well, this remains an entry level malt, of course. And a bit sick from the OBE. ‘Nuff said.

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