The Basics:
Do I recommend it?: For fans of lighter malts, yes; for the rest, skip on down.
Availability: Auction only
ABV: 58.1% (cask strength)
Presentation: Unspecified
General information: n/a
Bottling type: Proprietary
Character: Citric, grassy and herbal.
Score: 80/100
The details:
Auchroisk was built in 1972 by IDV, the parent firm of Justerini & Brooks. From the start, the distillery was meant to provide fillings for the J&B blend. It commenced production in 1974.
Its owners first bottled it as a single malt in 1986. Because of the difficulty of the Gaelic name, the single malt was branded as “The Singleton” which parent firm Diageo (a successor to IDV) now uses on several other malts in its portfolio. Presently, there is a regular bottling in the Flora and Fauna range, and when the annual special releases sampled more widely from Diageo’s huge portfolio, Auchoisk had occasional special release bottlings, including this 20 year old, and later 25 and 30 year olds, all bottled at cask strength. It sometimes finds its way to independent bottlers, as well, although perhaps not quite as frequently as some of its stablemates.
My wife bought this for me as a Christmas present–she was on a “20 year old” malt kick, and this was available at The Whisky Exchange for half price. It’s a nice, slightly hot malt (20 years haven’t done too much to tame a fairly hefty strength), and if you can enjoy and appreciate subtler, lightish, cereal forward whiskies, you can probably find things to appreciate here, even if it’s not quite good enough to win converts to that style. Whisky-wise, this was released ages ago, so if you want to find a bottle, your best bet would be an auction.
Auchroisk 20, 58.1% abv
Bottling Information:
Expression: 20 year old – cask strength
Bottler: Proprietor
Range: 2010 Special Releases
Bottle Code: L0146CM00C 02220665
Presentation: Unspecified
Details: Matured in European and American oak, bottle #440/5856
Price: Paid roughly $100, but expect to pay at least $300 or so if you can even find it.
Availability: Probably auction only, at this point.
Distillery Information:
Region: Speyside
Location: Mulben, Morayshire
Geography: Inland
Date Founded: 1972
Owner: Diageo
Website: https://www.malts.com/en-us/
Capacity: 5,900,000
Plant Summary: MASH TUN: Lauter; WASHBACKS: 8 Steel; STILLS: 8; HEAT SOURCE: Steam; CONDENSER: Shell and Tube
Total expressions sampled: 2
Overall distillery score: n/a
Tasting notes:
Nose: Creamy. Root beer. Lemon cupcakes. Freshly cut grass. Dill. Green olives. Tangerines. Walnuts.
Body: Surprisingly light, but a little oily.
Palate: Warm and chewy. Nougat. Very potent. Fresh squeezed lime. Maple sugar. Linseed oil. Lemon icing. Juicy tangerine. Sweet grass and Thai basil. Some soapiness.
Finish: Lots of sweetness and on the long side. Trace of rubber vying with the sweetness.
Score: 80/100
Who should buy it?: If you like straight-shooting, no-frills, light, almost traditionally Lowland style malts, you’ll probably love (or at least really like) this.
Overall thoughts: A really nice malt in a light, citric, slightly cereal forward style. It’s not quite enough of a stylistic exemplar to justify itself to people who don’t already like its style, but it’s quite nice stuff if you’re willing to work with a bit of subtlety.
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