Whisky : Auchroisk 7 Year SMWS 95.37 “Adventurous African Safari

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 62%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon (5Y), 2nd Fill Charred Red Wine Barrique (2Y)

Age : 7 Years (Distilled 18 Oct. 2012)

Nose : Big birthday cake, butterscotch, and faint herbal notes.  Caramel, Werther’s butterscotch candies, malted milk balls, and milk chocolate.  Herbal nots of rooibos tea and dried flowers along with maple cream cookies and mild jam.

Palate : Medium to thick body with fruit, butterscotch, and herbal notes.  Strawberry jam, dried dates, and cherries.  A touch of astringency came though with herbaceous rooibos tea and slightly creamy butterscotch.  Herbal and sweet notes were almost Ricola-esque.

Finish : Lingering slightly burnt herbal bitterness and butterscotch.

Score : 5

Mental Image : Ricola Milkshake

Notes :  This was an odd one.  The herbaceous-grassy character of Autchroisk really shined through the Red Wine influence.  The finishing cask on this was barely noticeable, though I suspect it was why this reminded me of an herbal rooibos tea and not hay or some other dried grass.  The cask also imparted occasional notes of chocolate, though the predominant experience was one of butterscotch.  There were some interesting elements to this, but none of the exotic fruit that I expected given the name or the description given by the Society.

Overall, for a young malt, this had a lot going on.  There was some lovely complexity and the experience was enjoyable.  Yet, the flavor profile was not really harmonious.  The butterscotch a bit overpowering for my taste, especially on the nose.