Auchentoshan Three Wood

This is a fine looking malt in the bottle, well packaged with a deep dark amber colour to the whisky, very inviting. I have long enjoyed the simpler bottlings from this distillery at 10 and 12 years of age, but I’m not a fan of this variety. Not sure which forest the three woods came from, or how they’ve affected the spirit in this way, but the overall effect is rather strange and unbalanced.

The nose is much the best part of the experience as rich aromas of sherry, unrefined sugars, oak, cinnamon, mild Arabica coffee and singed toast envelope the sinuses. Unfortunately it’s downhill from here on, the initial taste is very sweet of sticky toffee pudding (which I love) but the sweetness is overpowering. Hints of sherry, butterscotch and treacle also feature with a bitter under current. The mouth feel is full to cloying. The finish is long but continues the sweet sickly theme with a bitter treacle finale.

I’m sure there is a time and place for a whisky of this profile, but I’ve not found either yet.

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