For the curious, the name of this is a Porsche reference. My uncle has more or less exclusively repaired and restored Porsches for the last ~50 years, and I have spent a lot of time around them (passively - never got to drive any of the customer cars, ha!). Fuchs is the company that made wheels for Porsche for decades, hence the reference to brake dust. Lots of soot/ash/oil going on in this bottle, I would guess.
Second sample: 9 Year Ben Nevis, also finished in PX sherry, 58.6% abv, nicknamed "Cheeky Wee Upstart." Nose has earth, golden syrup, apple cores (!), a vague industrial note, moss, candy shop aroma. Palate is much brighter, and very hot - lots of alcohol burn, chili peppers, apples, malt sugar, oak, pepper. Opens a bit with water: deeper apples, less alcohol, more "foresty." Finish is reasonable, tons of dry oak, baked apple, and dry cocoa.
Third sample: 16 Year Royal Brackla, finished in a bodega-sourced Oloroso cask, 56.3% abv, nicknamed "The Stage is Set." Nose brought lots of black pepper and honey, melon, white grapes, tons of butter (!), oak, apples, pears. Palate was more of the same: apple, pear, sugar, oak, lots of pepper, lots of butter. Finish was surprisingly short, with apple, oak, and pepper.
Fourth sample: 14 Year Auchroisk, finished in PX sherry, 55.5% ABV, nicknamed "Cross-Cultural." Nose was lovely: grape must, cherry cough syrup, grape candies, field herbs, and a nice grassiness. Palate continued these notes in a big sweet-to-bitter sweep: cinnamon, grape, hints of cognac, hay, bitter herbs. Finish was medium to long, with fresh grapes, oak, herbs. I liked this one a lot.
Fifth sample: 11 Year Highland Park, vatting of two casks. First fill bourbon, 65.7% abv (!!), nicknamed "You Only Live Once." Easily the crowd favorite of the night, the host Mike Hom called it "beautiful," and I agreed completely. Nose was honey over honey, salt, vanilla, fresh heather, minerals. Palate brought more honey, oil, salt, rocks and heather. Pure and clean. Finish was long: salt, heather, oak, honey. Just lovely stuff.
Sixth and final sample: 9 Year Bunnahabhain, heavily peated and finished in PX sherry, 58.1% abv, nicknamed "Quo Vadis?" it was also heavily popular. Nose was wood, iodine, lemon, coal, oak, bacon, clay, pineapple, rubber... very rich, very dense. Palate brought lemon, ash, iodine, oak, rubber, pineapple. Finish lasted forever: lemon, sugar, ash. Everyone thought it was a teenaged Laphroaig (!), but no - Bunnahabhain for the win!
I honestly don't know what is going on with casks of Auchroisk over at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), because every single expression I've seen over the last two years has been finished in some kind of wine cask, often a reconditioned one. I am so damned curious as this point what non-finished Auchroisk tastes like!
Nonetheless, I find this strange system of wine finishing to be full of flavor, and this bottle is twice as old as most of the ~7 year releases that come out of the SMWS for Auchroisk (and I am a bit fatigued on bright young brash whiskies), so I am hoping for something mature and mellow while retaining the same complexity of flavor I like in Auchroisk.
Something is going on with Auchroisk over at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"). This is my third bottle from that distiller, and all three have been re-racked into wine casks at a really young age, and then released after a pretty short finishing period. This bottle, coded 95.46 by the SMWS and nicknamed "Earthy and Mysterious" is the oldest at 8 years (!). Released as part of the annual Speyside Festival, as part of their "spicy and sweet" profile.
Of the first three bottles I purchased from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), this was the one I was the most curious about. I'd had Ardmore, I'd had Dailuaine, but I'd never had Auchroisk. This bottle was subtitled "Adventurous African Safari," which is highly colorful and perhaps mildly suggestive of flavors to come. It was aged 5 years in ex-bourbon casks, then another 2 years in a 2nd fill red wine barrique. Bottled at a healthy 62% ABV, it's not colored or filtered.
