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Auchentoshan 12 Year Old

Jenny, the wonderful lady who keeps me on the expensive side of sanity, feels my love of Auchentoshan is a vindication of her belief that “the physical theory of magnetic attraction can be applied to all personal relationships”. ‘Opposites always attract’ she says. I suggest that spending more time in the company of this gentle, easy-going malt will mellow my character. She suggests I spend more time with the kids. No wonder we’re still so attracted to each other! The time I do get to spend with this fine example of a lowland malt always provides a pleasant little hole in life’s Polo of pain. If I have one critisism, it’s the trouble I have stopping before the end of the bottle.

This 12 year old Auchentoshan replaces the 10 year old which used to divide opinion. Some saw the 10 year old as a little insipid with a thinness and lack of character partly caused by the triple distillation process. I saw it for £15 in Asda and instantly warmed to it. Triple distillation is often used by Irish distillers to refine and smooth their whisky but is unique to Auchentohan in Scotland where single malts are distilled twice. The result is a wonderfully sweet, gentle and delicate malt. The 12 year old retaining the qualities of the 10 year old but a greater depth of flavour and more complex finish.