Whiskey "Okentoshen" (Auchentoshan): description, production features, reviews

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Traditionally, whiskey is considered one of the tricky drinks to think about. It has a huge variety of taste notes, aromas and aftertaste. According to these indicators, it surpasses many products of distillation: peaty, with creamy chocolate notes, with citrus or vanilla flavors. This alcoholic drink has no equal in smell and taste.

Scotch whiskey, or scotch, is the most famous hard liquor in the world. There are two types of whiskey: grain and m alt. The latter is produced from barley m alt by double distillation in a copper distillation container (much like an onion). But there are exceptions. For example, Okentoshen whiskey, which is obtained after a triple run.

Field Corner

Back in 1800, a distillery was opened in the vicinity of Glasgow (the second largest city in Scotland). It was located on fertile lands: on the banks of the full-flowing river Clyde in the heart of the Kilpatrick Hills. The name of the distillery in the Gaelic language sounds like "Corner of the field" (okentoshen). She received her license in1823.

Special Irish Distillation

Okentoshen distillery is located in Lowland, one of the most famous whiskey-producing areas. In these places (historically) the drink is made by triple distillation. This method is famous for the fact that mash has to be used more than usual. The output is true alcohol, completely purified, crystal clear and weightless. Therefore, Okentoshen whiskey (reviews from gourmets all over the world are a vivid confirmation of this) has the title of Lowland m alt whiskey.

Special water and difficult vats

Irish's unique triple distillation isn't everything. For whiskey "Okentoshen" water is taken from the freshwater lake Loch Katrin, located in the Trossachs National Park. And in a huge hole formed from bombing in March 1941, water is taken for the cooling system. The m alt for this drink is ordered special (for example, it does not undergo smoke processing). The process of making Okentoshen drinks takes place in a mash tun, which is made of stainless steel, and the dome that covers it is covered with copper, and fermentation tanks from the famous Oregon pine.

For distillation, a system of three cubes is arranged. After the first, the alcohol turns out to be eighteen percent, after distillation in the second, this figure increases to 54%, and at the exit from the third cube they have a product with a strength of 81%. This method produces the strongest alcohol produced in Scotland. Withstand "Okentoshen" inbarrels after American corn whiskey and dry or sweet Spanish sherry.

The taste stays the same

During the Second World War, the distillery was badly damaged due to repeated bombing of shipyards. By the beginning of the 60s of the last century, it was restored and sold. After several owners, the establishment ends up in the hands of the Japanese (the Suntory company), who highly appreciate the Scotch whiskey Okentoshen. Production facilities are modernized, and all production is brought to perfection. In January 2008, the company's management makes a radical decision: to change the label, bottle and packaging.

Distillery in the 21st century

Auchentoshan Lowland Single M alt changed more than just that. Significantly expanded the range of drinks. There was a stunning whiskey "Okentoshen Classic" and incendiary "Okentoshen Select" (they do not indicate the aging period in barrels). The line has also been updated with whiskey indicating the age - “Okentoshen 16 years old” and “Okentoshen 12 years old”, and there are also drinks that are 18 years old and 21 years old. And another novelty of this line is Okentoshen Tree Wood whiskey. It is filled with the taste and aromatic compositions of "three barrels": a drink of twelve years of aging after corn bourbon and a year of aging in a vat after Irish sherry - dry "Oloroso" and sweet "Pedro Jimenez".

We should not forget about the retro drinks of 1977-1978, which received original flavor notes after aging in vats of Irish Fino sherry and American bourbon, as well as"Okentoshen 1988", infused in a container after the French Bordeaux. Okentoshen 50 years m alt whiskey is recognized as the oldest in this line and the most aged worldwide.

The brand's products have repeatedly won the gold medal at the IWSC international class exhibition.

Okentoshen Classic

Okentoshen Classic whiskey is always available in elite alcohol online stores. Reviews about it are always positive: refined taste, pleasant smell of a green apple with a slight admixture of tobacco. The aftertaste is fresh with weightless notes of chocolate, mint and mandarin… Gourmets recommend trying it. The disadvantage buyers call one - the cost. Although, probably, a real single m alt should not be cheap.

This whiskey belongs to the Lowland (or Plain) molts. Distinguishes it from other varieties of color: candy caramel with a golden hue. This is achieved by triple distillation, and not by colors or other additives.

On the packaging (mandatory in English) there are several suggestions that the drink is produced at the famous Okentoshen distillery, which stands on the banks of the River Clyde between Glasgow and Loch Lomond, in the shadow of the old Kilpatrick hills. Okentoshen Classic whiskey is aging in oak vats. Captures the flavors and aromas of barrel-aged strong Irish bourbon and dry sherry.

Many sommeliers believe that the first sensations are fruity: a ripe peach or a summer pear, then honey appears with a hint of linden … The manufacturer specifies (on the package): this whiskey has a pronounced sweet smell of vanilla, as well as coconut and mint notes.

Classic Okentoshen reaches a noble old age in eight years. The strength of the drink is 40%.

Twelve year old drink

Each drink of the new Okkentoshen line has its own aroma and aftertaste. Whiskey "Okentoshen 12 years" acquires a noble antiquity in vats (volume of 250 l) "Hogshead". It is the aging of the drink in these containers that contributes to the fact that the whiskey acquires notes of spices, and light nutty shades are heard in the smell. What do the reviews say about it? Comparing this whiskey to the classic, people note that Okentoshen 12 Years Old is darker and has a more generous aromatic composition. There is always a hint of citrus on the palate. The drink has a barely noticeable oily texture.

A matter of chance

The history of the emergence of Okentoshen Tree Wood whiskey deserves special attention. Distillery experts claim that it turned out completely by accident, due to a staff error.

There has been a bit of an overabundance of ten-year-old Okentoshen in bourbon vats. For the experiment, it was poured into dry sherry casks. At the end of the experimental period, it became clear that the result was not what was intended. At the end of the experiment, employees of the company mistakenly poured the drink into a vat of Pedro-Ximenez sweet sherry. When the oversight was discovered, it was too late to fix anything, and they wanted to destroy the whiskey. But after sampling, it turned out that the drink turned out amazing!

Sothe famous "Okentoshen Tree Wood" is ten years of aging in bourbon vats, a year in dry Oloroso sherry vats and the final year in sweet Pedro-Ximenez vats. It was a sensation: an amazing mixture of smells and tastes (from sweet to sour and bitter). This "Okentoshen" is much darker than the others, with a strong smell of coffee and coconut. They are mixed with notes of leather and elite cigars. Judging by the reviews, this is the number 1 drink for cigar lovers!

Angels Share

After a triple distillation at the Okentoshen distillery, alcohol is obtained with an alcohol percentage of 81.5. When barrels are filled, about 5% of alcohol evaporates per year. And the “share of angels”, according to the current law, is no more than two percent per year. Therefore, before pouring alcohol into barrels, it is diluted with water.

Specialists have calculated that approximately 1.5 million liters of alcohol evaporate from the Okentoshen distillery during the year. They say very happy "angels" live there…