Baying for Blood

Screen grab Master of Malt

The World Cup's over, France won, I don't have any French whisky...so...French...wine...wine casks...guess we're doing Auchentoshan's Blood Oak today. Impeccable logic.

The Auchentoshan spirit isn't the most complex. At its best, it is "subtle", which is some way of saying that it hints at many things, but doesn't really have any real stand-out profiles. But if well-balanced, contains breadth, changes over time, then subtle can also be bloody brilliant. However, for something that's at plus-minus $100 from Duty Free, you're probably not going to get top notch Auchentoshan. The secondary maturation, or finishing, is therefore usually of great help.

The Blood Oak is matured partially in red wine casks that are, I don't know, oozing with red wine residue in the wood as a result of some deep charring thing. Ok, too much chemistry for this time of the night. Bought for me from DFS by CO. More than a year ago, just opened a month back. Thanks!


Auchentoshan Blood Oak (abv 46%)

Colour - Blood. Ok, kinda like most other red wine whiskies...dark amber-ish

Nose - Raspberries, a particular type of red currant syrup drink that my church sometimes uses in place of the Communion wine substitute (yes, a cheap replacement for cheap wine). Vanilla and coconut, a certain creaminess, like custard. Spicy, on...nutmeg?

Palate - Surprisingly a little hot. The vanilla and cream helps to take some sting off. Slightly tannic and meaty, like some varietals of reds. Nutmeg, cloves, a little herby too. Bitter, like orange pith.

Finish - More red currants and raspberries, some continuing spicy notes, meaty wine notes.

Overall - Decent whisky at a decent price! The wine casks do the Auchentoshan spirit a big favour, I think. I've placed this whisky on the backburner for quite a while before finally opening it. Been about a year. Won't say I'm missing out on a lot by not opening it sooner.

Artists and their whiskies

Bought this at a LMDW sale earlier this year. Let's see...

Image from whiskybase

Caol Ila, LMDW Artist Collective, 6 years (abv 43%)

Colour - pale, pale gold.

Nose - Butterscotch, lemon custard. Peat, algae, salt. This is pretty classic Caol Ila. There's notes of fish on this too. Grassy, with almost a floral note. The maritime note grows too, almost like oysters.

Palate - Smoke and charcoal. Salty and buttery. I like salted butter, by the way. None of that tame margarine thingy. Pity that's the only one at home now...for health reasons, of course. There's a growing lemon edge, reminding you that it's Caol Ila. A little bubblegum too. Some bitter fruit peel on the way down...and a bit of a meaty side. Elusive, but I think it's there.

Finish - more of that smoke. I imagine like a cigar. Spiciness grows in the finish, more so than on the palate. There's a bit of oak and bitterness.

Overall - This is good Caol Ila. Is it special? Different? I think it's not unexpected from Caol Ila, which is good if you like a Caol Ila to be like Caol Ila, but maybe nothing special for an Indie bottler. Maybe sweeter and meatier, but otherwise, fairly standard Caol Ila.

The partnership between artists and whisky makers is pretty interesting. I think that people who work a craft have so much in common - dedication to tradition, innovators finding their own voice. Something from a bygone era finding new relevance today...I've a bottle of Glentauchers that was bottled as a commemorative for an Art Museum. Let's see...maybe next month...