Auchroisk 1988 27 year old (Cadenhead’s)

Bottle: Cadenhead’s authentic collection standard bottling.

Nose: Musk, lime, banana, marshmallow and coconut. Really soft and creamy but also lively, tremendously inviting.

Body: Medium and syrupy.

Palate: Lemon drizzle cake, coconut oil, white pepper, passion fruit. This is an exotic mouthful, very engaging.

Finish: Candy bananas, coconut water, menthol. Decent length with an elegant fade.

Neat/Ice/Water: It’s perfect at 48.6% left neat.

Verdict: Superior. This Auchroisk is a very solid performer and tough to fault. The nose is really good, spend a little time breathing it in. In the mouth it really comes alive and the flavours coalesce together ever so well. There’s a real sweet fizzy hit on the tail that launches the finish. The big, sweet, tropical melange settles and fades with poise. Very accomplished stuff. At 27 years it’s old enough to have some mystery but it hasn’t lost any muscle either.  Bourbon matured with 258 bottles in the run and still available at Cadenhead’s London for just over £100 at the time of writing. Is it worth the money? Yes.