1998 Auchentoshan, AD Rattray 23 yo 56.1%

An intensely refined, delicate malt, beautifully burnished with the patina of age - this is what is rightly called a meditation malt, for serious connoisseurs. Just north of Glasgow, Auchentoshan is one of the few surviving Lowland distilleries in Scotland. It has always been a personal favourite, despite my Edinburgh roots. While almost all Scottish distilleries use double distillation, at Auchentoshan they follow the Irish model and go for triple distillation. Auchentoshan was founded in 1825; it isn`t entirely clear by whom, but it was most likely Irish settlers fleeing famine. That may well explain the triple distillation. (NT 19/04/22)