| Rating | 28.3/40 |
| Origin | Scotland, Central Speyside |
| Distillery | Auchroisk |
| Owner | Diageo |
| Distilled | February 1994 |
| Bottler | Douglas Laing |
| Series | Old Malt Cask |
| Style | Single Barrel Single Malt |
| Cask | Refill Hogshead HL15186 |
| Bottled | June 2019 |
| Bottles | 239 |
| Strength | 54.5% (106.8 Proof) |
| Retailer | K&L Wine Merchants |
Auchroisk is not exactly a well known distillery with a significant presence on store shelves. And so it’s always a pleasure and interesting to find some expression, especially an older one like this. Let’s see how it stacks up!
Nose: Purple flowers. Why purple? I don’t know. But it does smell like purple flowers. Not lavender though. Some other purple flower. It’s not easy getting past that floweriness and diving deeper into the nose because it’s quite snappy like a tense cat. Approach at an angle it doesn’t like and you get bit. Quite pretty but flowery noses aren’t generally my thing. (6.7/10)
Palate: The flowery notes don’t go away but they cease to be flowery. Probably because someone has set the bouquet on fire and then tried (and failed) to put it out with honey water. (7.3/10)
Finish: A quite wonderful heat spreads down the back of the throat toeing but not crossing the line to discomfort. The flavors however do not keep up with the heat leaving little but prickly sparkles of mild bitterness along the roof of the mouth. (7.1/10)
Balance: I think some folks would like this a lot more than I do but it’s just not well aligned with my preferences. For me it’s a decent dram that doesn’t quite manage to deliver on its innate potential. (7.2/10)