Auchentoshan Three Wood

Color: a rosy copper.

Nose: mmm. Thick and luxuriant. Cinnamon cooked apples. Butterscotch and caramel poured over vanilla ice cream. Old books! Just the slightest hint of pipe tobacco and burnished leather. Feels like I'm sitting by the fire in a wood-paneled den, lighting up a pipe after finishing an apple crisp à la mode.

Body: somewhat light-bodied.

Palate: hmm. Not at all what I expected from the nose, but that's okay. I was expecting something very sweet and spicy, like A'bunadh, but this is quite different. A very smoky, woody flavor. Oak and tobacco, but with a faintly sweet touch. Something like espresso somewhere in the background. The best adjective I can think of is dignified. Then again, I guess it isn't so far from the wood-paneled den, after all.

Finish: if there's disappointment in this dram, it is here. Very short finish. The tobacco flavor lingers, but that's about it. No real warming in the chest.

I quite enjoyed the first two-thirds of this dram. The finish left much to be desired, but the nose really brought about a tour of my sensorial memory. The palate was a work-horse. Not the most fascinating or nuanced flavors I've ever experienced, but very sturdy and satisfying, nonetheless. At $65 in my neck of the woods, I'd say this is slightly over-priced, but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking to journey through the Lowlands.

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