Our first cask of Society Auchroisk since 2016 – this one an 11 year old from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead. Spicy & Dry profile.
Nose: Sweet cereals with hay and reeds and soft-peaked meringues. Hard candy sweet provides a tangy sugar uplift. Leafiness runs in the background – wet and mossy with some old cloth and dusty white pepper. Reduction adds more fabric with dirty cotton, bung cloth and leather.
Taste: Arriving 100% ex-bourbon with vanilla, toasted cereals and coconut shavings, this develops quite wildly with spicy pepper and clove studded pear. The mid-palate reveals a more fruity side with pineapple and cooking apples, whereas the back-palate expresses a dusty chalkiness with hay and stale beer.
Finish: Medium with pepper and old tobacco tins.
An odd combination of hard sweets and filthy clothes runs throughout this Auchroisk – it’s generally OK, but I’m not entirely convinced by the balance of aromas and flavours, which never feel completely coherent and complementary.