Visit to the Auchentoshan Whisky Distillery

During my in laws' visit to the UK in the spring of 2017, we were visiting Scotland. Since me and my father-in-law were both fans of scotch whisky, we wanted to visit a distillery, and found the nearest distillery to our hotel. I was quite suspicious about the very "German" sounding name, a whisky which I had never known to exist. We were pleasantly surprised. This was where I started to recognize the value of this intricate product of nature: Whisky. This visit gave a different meaning to the enjoyment of this lovely drink.

Auchentoshan means the "edge of the field".  The specialty of "Auchentoshan", is mainly the triple distillation process that it undergoes. Triple distillation is quite uncommon for scotch whisky as compared to Irish counterparts. Our guide on tour infact said at one point, that "Auchentoshan" is the only scotch whisky that is triple distilled. Normally the Scotch whiskies are distilled only twice, which in part is linked to its burning sensation. More information about the Auchentoshan making process can be found here.

The whisky "12 year old American oak aged", was very smooth and light in color.  It lacked the distinct burning sensation associated with Scotch whiskies. The drink has very low after effects, probably due to a more cleaner product compared to other scotch whiskies.
Interestingly we were also served a cocktail made from mixing Auchentoshan, IPA and Lime (or lemon) cordial, which was very refreshing. Never crossed my mind of mixing whisky with ale.

Since this was my first introduction to whisky making process here are few facts that I learnt during this visit:

• A whisky contains only 3 ingredients: Water, Barley (which is part malted) and Yeast
• A whisky to be called a "Scotch Whisky", it has to be distilled and be matured in Scotland for at least 3 years. 
• Whisky gets its different tastes and aromas from the maturation process, where it is in contact with the wood for a prolonged period of time. The phenols in the wood diffuses in to the spirit to give it different aromas and tastes
• You add a few drops of water to the Whiskey, to increase the temperature of drink, and it lets different aromas to release. Adding ice to the whisky drops its temperature and inhibits some flavors. Adding water is generally recommended only for cask strength whiskies so that the burning sensation do not overpower subtle tastes. You can read more here. 

Our discovery of Auchentoshan was quite serendipitous, for an amateur is one of the best whiskies I have yet to taste to my liking.