Monday, April 21, 2008

Have just tried ...Auchroisk 10 years old 'Flora & Fauna'

auchroisk 10 years oldAuchroisk (pronounced ar-thrusk) is a little known distillery based in Speyside. It is owned by multinational drinks giant Diageo and is one of the newest distilleries in Scotland, only opening in 1974. The reason that it is little known is probably down to the fact that most of the whisky produced there (around 3.5 million litres per year) gets put into blended whiskies. The majority of this goes into J&B Rare, which is the second best selling blended whisky in the world. As a result, there are very few distillery bottlings around and this one belongs to Diageo's 'Flora and Fauna' range. The nose smells promising with an aromatic freshness of citrus (lemon zest), caramel, coconut and maybe a hint of liquorice. The flavour is also very fresh with the underlying taste being of the malted barley. On top of this, there is a fruitiness (raisins) and sweetness, some vanilla and toffee plus the zesty citrus notes from the nose. The finish is quite dry with a lasting maltiness and something herbal (freshly cut grass). This is good, it has a full flavour but it is refreshing and I like the dryness on the finish. It is priced around £35 and would be a good whisky to have on a hot summer's day or as an aperitif.

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