🥃 Whisky van Zuylen

Dark amber color. Oily structure.

Aroma：Moderate；Palate：82/100; Aftertaste：Medium.

Actually a simple malt. Lots of wood, dark chocolate but also an intense basic sweetness and a hint of grapefruit and citrus. Very tasty at the same time. Honestly delicious, barrel-driven, there is just a little too little Auchentoshan. To be honest, I don't like it badly at all and it's a great everyday dram if you want it to be a little more powerful.

Nice daily dram.

S6 Way, way dark let than my previous batches. Dark and rich. Enjoyable but single-minded. Also, the sherry is overpowering the Auchentoshan’s delicate distillates that I don’t like. Treat it as cream Sherry with an extra punch in strength. [78-82] I'll gladly welcome another dram. N 24 Clear PX influence. Sticky toffee, Medjool dates. Everything else is masked. Roasted black tea. P 26 Chinese black tea. Sultana. Toasted oak. Espresso beans. Dark chocolate. A touch watery. F 24 Mid finish. Rich oak with dates lingering. Warm spices go hand in hand with dried fruits.

It's just an easy drinkable entry whisky

It's just too spicy for me, too dry, too tart, too bitter, overall too much barrel for me. (81 pts)

For starters, this is for a very dark 2020/2021 batch of TW bought in Sept. '21. It is worth mentioning that - btw just as with LP Triple Wood - these bottlings have lately undergone drastic color fluctuations from amber to dark mahogany (and back). Just as with the above mentioned this has clearly affected the taste (if for better or worse lies in the eyes of the beholder). Also you repeatedly come across 'smart' folk here in Germany that claim just b/c it says Enhält Farbstoff (contains colorant) it must do so and hence the difference in color stems from artificial coloring by E150A. Obviously these folk neither know the details of the german labelling requirement, i.e. that this disclaimer gives you the legal right to add colorant but is not necessarily a statement of fact as the distillery is not obligated to execute its right, nor do they understand what E150A is used for, i.e. to create uniformity not to create funny color variations from batch to batch for shits'n'giggles while the taste remains the same to confuse customers, nor have they taken a sip of the different batches and experienced said clear differences. As for this batch, it is a dry and a bit bitter sherry note and previous batches seemed more accessible. Ok, one more piece of trivia spotted on the back label in the discription of the used cask types. While during the distillery tour in 2019 the guide (no student helper) of Auchentoshan emphasized that this bottling in fact does NOT contain cask finishes (with sherry) but instead is - in his own words - unique in that the three different whiskies are each fully matured in their respective casks and then married before bottling, hence Three Wood and not e.g. Triple Wood. Now the back of the packaging states the contrary. I wonder if they changed their policy for whatever reason. If this makes any difference in taste, again, lies in the eyes of the beholder. :-)

Blind tasted at a hiking tour on 07-06-2020.

The triple distillation results in a thin body, coupled with a strange herbal taste. If you don't like drinking Chinese medicine, I suggest you don't try it; the experience will be unpleasant.

Here, it ends up a little weak. That weakness is hidden behind a sweetness and a light, undisturbing tangency. However, the intensity, perhaps slightly above low, and the finishing length, which pushes the upper limit of the shortest length at its maximum, prevent this. There are also subtle, unobtrusive signs of youthfulness; especially towards the end, or retronasally, it feels like a slightly metallic note, like a green plum or plum pit. There's also a side of it that's like a rich, chocolatey mother's cake. There are no flaws; in fact, despite being short, the ending doesn't feel empty, but it's not on the same level as the rest.

Not your typical sherry cask. Quite spicy. Woody cask influence, tobacco, leather, quite herbal and dry. Not sure about this one. No wow factor. Not sure if the E150 colorant has taken away the natural taste, what a shame a potentially good whisky has been dalmored to an artificial realm. Nevertheless a tasty easy sipping dram that possible has some potential to improve in future releases.

As soon as the bottle stopper was opened, the sulfur smell of explosion rushed out! I have never met a bottle of whisky with more sulfur than it! Stinky eggs, burnt plastic, all bad smells! The faint flavor and strong bitter taste perfectly show what a bad bottle of whisky is like. Can it be worse?

Light and comfortable. Definitely worth buying. All-day dram with a good PLV.

Nice whisky. Good balance of sweet and bitterness

I like the Auchentoshan marzipan taste that all sherry cask auchentoshans had I drank so far, and I like the three wood, it's a very nice whisky for the price but overall it is not as impressive as other sherry bombs are. The rating is an average of 8 drams since I started noting my ratings til the end of the bottle. I probably wont buy another bottle but I actually might, it has something unique to this distillery/botteling.

The aroma is a sherry bomb, powerful, classy and strong. The taste is average between cherry juice and jam. Very pleasant, tart, with a slight sourness.

I've never liked the Auchentoshan Three Wood. In my humble opinion the selected casks destroy the delicate character of the spirit. This one here is a good example for bad maturation. The malt smells artifical and has some realy distusting chemical notes in the background. The taste is bitter and unpleasant. Better look out for some good bourbon casks from Auchentoshan.

Оценка: 83/100 Color: тёмный янтарный, самый насыщенный Nose: херес, сухофрукты, специи, карамель Palate: курага, специи, карамель, выраженное влияние хереса Finish: долгий, сладкий, карамельный Comment: Самый вкусный и выразительный образец. Хересные бочки делают своё дело — глубина и насыщенность.

In the aroma Very oaky. Notes of sherry, a little alcohol. Aromas of burnt sugar and caramel and light notes of vanilla and chocolate. Burnt oak. Malt extract. In the taste, sweet, slightly alcoholic. Sweetness is very dominant. Caramel. Light retro nasal oakiness. I really like such sensations. In the taste, the feeling of a young but good whisky. A very worthy option if you can find it at a reasonable price. The aroma is amazing and lives a long time in an empty glass, does not fall apart.

Try a tasting versus Millstone 5 PX and Glenalba 19 Oloroso. Clear. It is a very noticeably sherried whisky. However, compared to the two whiskys drunk first...tobacco! In its wet/humid variant. Very pleasant! A great PLV malt for every day. Chill filtration and coloring are a feature here, not a bug.

Previously, I didn’t understand why very nasty whisky was rated so low - I tried something that wasn’t the last one in the line and now everything fell into place. Water with the taste of stale 12-year-old socks aged in three trees. Of course, these are just first impressions and perhaps everything will change... It can only be smelled, then triple distillation begins. It doesn't fly - it only swims.

This is the first Auchentoshan I have. Auchentoshan is known to be having light texture and easy to sip. However, this three wood I tried is quite rich in palate and flavourful. The finish in sherry has very deep impact to the scotch. However, the taste is a bit artificial as the sherry is not quite similar to the sherry I usually have. Maybe because the sherry casks used are not in good quality. Wouldn’t buy another one.

21 - 20 - 19 - 20

really great NAS release, definitely recommended

Incredibly nice smell of sherry, dark fruits / raisins, grapes. Taste very full-bodied but maybe even a tad too sweet. Is that still a whisky or is it already a sherry? :-) It's a special drop, but you really have to like the sherry, and it's not very complex.

For me it's just too spicy. Not as round as high class Whiskies, which is ok if you take the price into account. In general, the casks are represented very well!

The color is dark amber. On the nose there is chocolate, ground coffee, honey, leather, raisins and dried fruit. On the palate you get tobacco, salt, compote and more dried fruit. The finish is long, both dry and sweet.

Nice, full-bodied dram. Definitely grabs your attention! Not my favourite expression from Auchentoshan. However, as a representative of sherry finished Scotch, this is wonderful! It adds the dryer mouthfeel of the Olorosso, and the dried fruit sweetness of the PX ????????

It has distinct aromas of oak, burnt sugar, woody notes, and the scent of old wooden furniture or polish. I found it quite enjoyable.