TASTING NOTES

AUCHENTOSHAN THREE WOOD

I think I am getting into my stride again. It’s been three months since I got over that terrible problem with the Three Ships from South Africa, and there have been some great whiskies in between times. Furthermore, I am learning about my own preferences as we go. The Bushmills Malt 21 Madeira Finish made me laugh, and was quite the contrast to the very serious and studious Ichiro’s Malt introduction I had with Hanyu Eight of Spades. After three months and three ships it’s time for the Three Wood.

So the Auchentoshan Three Wood comes into play, the first of the rare and few remaining Lowland whiskies to feature in this search for the best whisky in the world. And what a whisky. It starts for me with a lovely shaped bottle (the new Auchentoshan packaging is clean and clear). The cork top opens with a satisfying “pop”, and the whisky pours one of two ways – hold the bottle horizontal and control is heightened for smaller drams, or hold it vertical for a more heavy handed portion – a nice touch!

This whisky is right up my street. The Auchentoshan Three Wood now sits alongside Bushmills 21 Madeira in my recent “favourites” bookmark. Whilst I am not much into nosing and all that jazz, I respect that if that’s your bag then you’ll be able to analyse the sweet smell of fruits and chocolate – a nice cake – and the taste is delicious. Physically, this whisky has enough going on that it threatens to withstand the science - although each mouthful of alcohol will anaesthetize the taste buds, this whisky will continue to sweeten and draw you in. It is strong enough and complex enough - there is plenty going on and the liquid keeps finding its way to a new bud to tingle.

Then again, it is not that surprising when you stop to take a look at the influences. What we have in Auchentoshan’s Three Wood, and a good three wood at that, is a whisky finished three different woods -American Bourbon casks, as well as Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. So, for those who know they like or want to explore the influence of the sherry finishes on their whisky, this bottle has plenty to offer. For those who prefer the peats, the Islays, then this will perhaps not suit you, but for those who like the Irish whiskeys such as the Bushmills 21 Year Old, then this dark Lowland whisky will probably entertain.

Just by coincidence, it turns out that I have a couple of bottles of Pedro Ximenez sherry kicking around, because I once bought a case. I bought that case after trying it in a restaurant as a “liquid dessert”. I would describe Cardinal Cisneros sherry, which is very dark and luxurious, as “sticky toffee pudding in a glass”. It was pretty hard to track down, and still is. If you want to know why Pedro Ximenez sherry casks add that raisin sweetness to your whiskies, I suggest you try to find a bottle or two of the Cardinal Cisneros.

There’s no surprise that this whisky has the character of toffee, caramel, maple syrup and something of the rich fruit found in a good Christmas pudding. It does occur to me that this is a perfect whisky to pour into such a recipe, alongside the Pedro Ximenez, and then sit back and feel drunk for the rest of the evening. Finish yourself off with more glasses of either Cisneros or Auchentoshan, depending on how drunk you want to become.

What might turn out to be a criticism of this Auchentoshan Three Wood is that, with all these bourbon and sherry influences kicking around, it may not represent a particularly good representation of the distillery character. Looking back at the review, I have written as much about sherry, as much about the Pedro Ximenez Cardinal Cisneros sherry as I have about the triple distilling, the absolute volume, or the legacy and history of the Auchentoshan Lowland distillery.

However, all said and done, Auchentoshan Three Wood is a whisky I would ask for on a night out, after dinner at a restaurant, and it has certainly started me off down the path of sampling more sherry cask finishes, more Portwood finishes, and also more of the Madeira finish whiskies. This whisky is definitely one for later in the evening, and is certainly one that I would not hesitate to pour after dinner, and late into the night. Well priced and nicely packaged, at this stage in the game I would say that the Auchentoshan Three Wood currently sits with the Bushmills 21 Year Rare Madeira in a top three, alongside the first Jura whisky I tasted, the Isle of Jura 10 year old. Like I said, I am finding my own personal feet here, which in itself I hope makes the remaining journey more interesting.

© 2009 GrainMash.