Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
mixture of hot water, yeast and the sugars in the barley accomplish that. A still is just a
way of separating that already existing alcohol from all the rest of the stuff that's been left
behind after the fermentation process has ended. In the old days a lot of places needed to
go through the boiling-cooling process three times; now - with better control over every
part of the process and fine-tuning the extent of the middle cut that's taken - twice is gen-
erally all that's required.
The result of triple distilling, other influences being equal, is to produce a light, del-
icate, usually quite floral and perfumy whisky. This probably suits a Lowland style of
whisky better than an Islay South Coaster, say, though it would be interesting to ex-
periment (I think there should be a big experimental distilling rig in a Scottish uni-
versity where they can use all sorts of different types of heating, varying shapes of still,
adjustable-length and adjustable-angle Lyne arms and so on … you might not find much
that's actually applicable to real-world distilleries, but it would be
interesting
!). As a fin-
ished whisky, Auchentoshan depends more than most on its casking, and the star of the
readily available expressions is the Three Wood (no age given), which moves promiscu-
ously from bourbon casks to oloroso barrels before ending up in the embrace of Pedro
Ximenez. The result of all this serial experience is a seductive, full-bodied, rather fruity
… well, let's not get too tabloid here, but this is generally agreed to be a fine dram, though
when I do taste the Three Wood I find it a bit oily for my taste (my three fellow tasters
agree, so it's not just me). It's almost as though one of the barrels which went into the
marrying process had held diesel or something. It's another whisky which apparently ages
particularly well, with 21-, 22 (22?)- 25- and 31-year-old bottlings amongst others, all of
which sound - I confess I haven't tasted them - well worth the finding. Providing they
don't taste like the bottle I bought. By all accounts, though, another very different and
very pliable, very adaptive whisky.
There's a Banks Trap in Broomhill; a small but well-formed retail park which cunningly
contains a really big outdoor shop right next to a really big Oddbins branch. The outdoor
shop is so big it has displays of assembled tents lying around and full-size canoes hanging
from the roof and the Oddbins is so big it has a walk-in beer cooler and a separate and
very sizable Fine Wine section, not to mention a giant walk-in cigar humidor. It's almost
like somebody's been taking notes of my weaknesses. It only needs a Porsche dealership
next door in one direction and a decent Indian restaurant in the other and you'd never
prise me out of there. Though a sizable bookshop would probably be required too. And
maybe a motorbike showroom. Oh, and a CD/DVD store. And a chandlers. And an elec-
tronics and gadgets shop.
Anyway, stuff is bought. The Defender swallows boxes and cases containing different
types of Guaranteed Fun. Finally it's time to head for Bruce and Yvonne's.
