As a cask comes to maturity, Finn curates sampling sessions in interesting and relaxing environments, with friends, whisky experts and trusted partners to discover the personality of each cask and gauge the experience each dram evokes.
All the best distillers pride themselves on crafting whisky with a distinctive flavour, which is determined by the water source, grain and barley, the peat and malting, and their distilling processes. High quality original spirit is integral to every cask we bottle.
The cask itself interacts with the whisky over time. The type of wood plays a big role, as do treatments such as the whiskies are aged in a variety of types of casks. The whiskies are aged in former sherry or bourbon casks, augmenting the cask influence. External conditions such as air temperature, pressure and humidity also interact with the cask producing a knock-on effect that makes the spirit inside unique.
Finn uses these factors to balance each FT whisky experience. He may sample a cask and decide to leave it on the rack, allowing age to further develop its personality. He might decide to re-rack a whisky in a new cask to add a finishing touch. Or, he might simply deem it ready. When Finn decides the flavour is perfectly balanced, it’s time to bottle the whisky.
A very special moment led to the selection of this whisky for bottling. It was one of three Auchentoshan samples brought along on a recent family camping trip with my Father and Grandfather. 2 of the samples are from the same distillation in 1989 and indeed they are just 3 casks apart from each other. They couldn’t have been more different which just goes to show the magic of the cask maturation process. All 3 went down a storm on a cold October night by the campfire but there was something about the smoothness of this one that stood out, even at cask strength. It was Granddad Michael’s pick of the bunch and who am I to argue with 80 years of expertise!
Auchentoshan is a unique distillery within Scotland. It is the only distillery to exclusively use triple distillation and has a distinctive character because of that. The new make spirit produced here comes out the stills at 81%, considerably higher than at other Scottish distilleries. This results in a spirit with fewer impurities and a smoother and lighter flavour. More typical of an Irish whisky, the spirit style is light, sweet and citric.
With such a light spirit character there is a real balancing act when it comes to cask influence. On the one hand the spirit can be easily overpowered by wood while at the same time the spirit relies on the interaction with oak for much of its flavour. This is especially the case with an older cask like this. The wood has by no means taken over here though. Stoned fruit and melon notes shine through alongside the mustier, autumnal notes that the cask has passed on over their marriage of 32 years.
I can’t quite believe how well balanced this is. At 32 years of age it’s so easy for Auchentoshan to be blown away by the cask. Yet here we have the trademark zesty fruitiness that you’d expect from a younger Auchentoshan alongside the earthy, nutty, Autumnal notes that have developed over the years of ageing. There’s a brilliant liquorice finish here which emerges on the finish and adds that extra wow factor you’d expect from such an old whisky. Very special stuff here.
A very special moment led to the selection of this whisky for bottling. It was one of three Auchentoshan samples brought along on a recent family camping trip with my Father and Grandfather. 2 of the samples are from the same distillation in 1989 and indeed they are just 3 casks apart from each other. They couldn’t have been more different which just goes to show the magic of the cask maturation process. All 3 went down a storm on a cold October night by the campfire but there was something about the smoothness of this one that stood out, even at cask strength. It was Granddad Michael’s pick of the bunch and who am I to argue with 80 years of expertise!
Auchentoshan is a unique distillery within Scotland. It is the only distillery to exclusively use triple distillation and has a distinctive character because of that. The new make spirit produced here comes out the stills at 81%, considerably higher than at other Scottish distilleries. This results in a spirit with fewer impurities and a smoother and lighter flavour. More typical of an Irish whisky, the spirit style is light, sweet and citric.
With such a light spirit character there is a real balancing act when it comes to cask influence. On the one hand the spirit can be easily overpowered by wood while at the same time the spirit relies on the interaction with oak for much of its flavour. This is especially the case with an older cask like this. The wood has by no means taken over here though. Stoned fruit and melon notes shine through alongside the mustier, autumnal notes that the cask has passed on over their marriage of 32 years.
I can’t quite believe how well balanced this is. At 32 years of age it’s so easy for Auchentoshan to be blown away by the cask. Yet here we have the trademark zesty fruitiness that you’d expect from a younger Auchentoshan alongside the earthy, nutty, Autumnal notes that have developed over the years of ageing. There’s a brilliant liquorice finish here which emerges on the finish and adds that extra wow factor you’d expect from such an old whisky. Very special stuff here.