Whisky : Auchenstoshan 18 Year SMWS 5.71 “Elbow patches and saucy librarians”

Country/Region : Scotland/Lowlands

ABV : 56.4%

Cask : First Fill Oloroso Hogshead

Age : 18 Years (Distilled 11 Oct. 2000)

Nose : Roasted coffee, milk chocolate, and Wether’s butterscotch.  The nose is subtle with underlying rich notes of prunes, dates, and plums along with cinnamon and brown sugar.  Kiss of salt, tweed, yellowed paper, and leather book jackets develop in the background.

Palate : Mellow profile with florals and wall paper glue leading the way.  Brown sugar and red fruits give a lovely sweetness.  Rubber pencil eraser, book bindings, and tannic astringency build over time along with a bit of bitterness.

Finish : Lingering cinnamon and coffee. 

Score : 6

Mental Image : Sticky Library Books

Something Better : Longrow 15 Year Chardonnay (similar paper, leather, more tropical fruit/complexity)

Something Similar : Amrut ‘Greedy Angels’ 10 Year Peated (similar oil/old books, more spice, less fruit)

Something Similar : Linkwood 29 Year SMWS 39.180 (similar tannic/dry profile & antiques, more tea)

Notes :  This was far and away voted worst of the evening when poured at a tasting event a few months ago.  Only one brave soul ranked it as best of the evening— so not a divisive dram, but one that was probably a bit too tannic for most of the tasters.

I do not know much about saucy librarians— though as a Professor I do know a little about elbow patches.  There are some lovely ‘archival/dusty library stack’ notes in this and I actually enjoyed it a lot more the second and third time I tried it.  Given a few extra weeks to breath it really opened up.  While it remained tannic and a bit overly dry, especially on the finish, the palate was richer with more deep fruit notes.  Not the most complex dram, but a tasty one that paired especially well with sharpe cheese (or just mac and cheese)— a discovery made by accident more than anything else.