Auchentoshan Valinch 2011 Release

I was excited at the prospect of getting some Auchentoshan at Cask Strength, even though in this case it meant getting it hand-carried to me from Ontario. The reviewed bottle has been open 4 1/2 months, is 95% full, and has been preserved with inert gas for all of that time. Auchentoshan Valinch is reported to be the undiluted version of what becomes, when diluted, Auchentoshan Classic. The reviewed bottle is truly from the 2011 release

Nose: the barley provides lots of grassy, hay-like flavours, and both sweet and dry citrus. There is mellow grape wine in the background. This is pleasant, though not a head-turner

Taste: the palate comes to life with much more vivid and intense flavours than those present in the nose. The citrus is quite intense, and is once again both very sharp and tart, but with a very strong sweet balance. All of the nose flavours translate with much increased voltage, particularly after the bottle has taken some months of air. The wine is still here in the background, and becomes more noticeable toward the finish, AFTER the striking entrance of the barley-malt flavours of grass and citrus

Finish: even though the flavours are quite strong here, the grassy flavours fade after a medium period, then the citrus flavours taper down, leaving at the very end some wine flavours on a bed of sweet

Balance: I love the power and force of this whisky, especially for a distillery with a reputation for mild flavours. The barley is very sharp and intense, which gives this focus. There is not a lot of nuance and finesse in these flavours, nor a large degree of complexity nor a particularly great level of balance here. For me this whisky's virtues lie in its cask strength intensity and very pointed barley. Those are quite nice, if you like that sort of thing

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