Auchentoshan 2013

I visited Auchentoshan Distillery in 2013 with 2 friends. We had ordered an exclusive tour, and we were the only ones on the tour. The structure of the tour was that we tasted different Auchentoshan whiskies as we reached the different point on the tour. Very smart, because you didn’t have to go through out the tour and think about whisky!

The guide was a little chubby distillery worker. I don’t remember his title, but he was very friendly and from the start there was a great atmosphere. When we reached the washbacks, he asked if we would like to try the “wash”, and that was an offer we didn’t refuse. He told us it tasted like a German Weiss bier, which I only vague could agree to. A poor Weiss bier perhaps… And you have to remember that it was approximately 20 degrees.

We were also able to taste the “Spirit” when we reached the Potstills. It was here the fun really began. Auchentoshan are triple distilling, so their “Spirit” is around 90 ABV. But even though the high alcohol volume, it was very tasty.

After the tour round the production, we went to the Warehouse, where we had the pleasure to sample directly from the cask. It was a bit staged, but still a great experience.

After the tour, it was ment that we should go to the distillery bar and sample some whiskies, but the mood was great and we were all having a good time, so he took us to the blenders bar. A bar filled with cask- and blendsamples. Here we were able to taste some of these, and it was probably the best ones on the tour. After this we went to the distillery bar and tasted the last ones.

This was a great tour, and simply genius that you taste whiskies as the tour progresses, so you aren’t going around getting thirsty. I will definitely recommend a visit to Auchentoshan Distillery, and I give this tour an 8 out of 10.