New Release: Auchentoshan 2000 14 Year Old The Whisky Agency & ARen Trading

A surprisingly clean and fruity Auchentoshan. Auchentoshan AUCHENTOSHAN 2000-2014 14yo THE WHISKY AGENCY with ARen Trading 52.1% one of 221 bottles, Refill Barrel The aroma features ripe apricot, orange, black tea, and a good barley note. On the palate, it expands from a very smooth mouthfeel with orange, light peach, vanilla, gentle barley notes, creaminess, and a mild sweetness of orange juice, leading to a pleasant finish. [Good/Very Good] This Auchentoshan was jointly bottled by a German whisky agency and Taiwan's ARen Trading. Typically, Auchentoshan bottles give me the impression of having a paper-like texture and bitterness, but this 2000 distillation bottle surprised me. It lacks both the paper-like texture and bitterness, and it's not an overpowered style of recent new dars. It seems to have a clean aroma from good cask aging. Although not aged for an exceptionally long time, the aroma isn't complex but evokes a sense of excitement with ripe fruits and black tea. From a youthful, alcohol-forward mouthfeel, the expected fruity notes are clearly felt with creaminess. The barley note is gentle for its youthfulness, and while the body lacks thickness, it smoothly transitions into a pleasant finish. Despite my lack of expectations for this Auchentoshan with short aging, I was surprised by its excellent finish. Whether it's due to the original spirit or the cask, or both, I now feel like re-experiencing recent Auchentoshans.