Kudos to Auchentoshan Distillery – they sure know how to organise an excellent whisky festival!

On Saturday, whisky fans descended in their hordes on the distillery. And Auchentoshan responded with the warmth and ease of an accomplished and practised host – very impressive, given that this was their first whisky festival.

A whisky festival wouldn’t be a whisky festival without some drams to taste: besides Auchentoshan’s own whisky (boyohboy is the Three Wood yummy!), parent company Morrison Bowmore brought along supplies of Bowmore and Glen Garioch to share.

It’s been a long time since we had some Bowmore. Quite why so long, I’m really not sure, especially after renewing our acquaintance with it on Saturday. It’s good. And we shall be stocking up shortly!

Glen Garioch, on the other hand was completely new to us. Indeed, the Founders Reserve that they were allowing people to taste was new to everyone! I loved the taste. Not so keen on the aroma, though. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was that bothered me about it – all I could so eloquently come up with was “too perfumy” and “it’s affecting the wrong part of my nose”… you’d think that maybe these were the ramblings of a drunk person, but no, I was still completely sober at this point!

Also available to taste was Auchentoshan’s new range of ales – the lighter Summer Gold and the darker Triple Conditioned ale. I can’t comment personally on these as I don’t drink beer, but if the happy faces of my drinking companions were anything to go by, Auchentoshan’s head distiller Jeremy Stephens did a fine job!

In between tastings of various tipplings, we wandered round the farmers’ market, watched a chainsaw sculpture of a thistle take shape, and were enthralled by the cooperage demonstration (seriously, Jim Reilly should have his own TV show – he’s very entertaining with a great sense of humour!).

Despite Auchentoshan’s careful planning with repeats of events, we managed to miss both mixology demonstrations. Totally our fault. I think we were paying homage to the casks in the specially opened warehouse at the time.

And, we also didn’t avail ourselves of any of the master classes that were on, largely due to budgetary constraints (see the donate button below, people? We shamelessly but nicely beg of you to be generous so that we can do some of these next year. There is going to be a next year? Right? Auchentoshan? Pleaseohplease?).

All in all, even though we didn’t get to see and do everything, we saw and did a lot. Auchentoshan – you done good! Thank you!

If you’re curious to find out more about the distillery, visit our Auchentoshan page. And if you’d like to taste their whisky, you can buy a bottle of Auchentoshan here.

So close, yet so far. To us, living in the east of Scotland, that’s what the west feels like. Only an hour’s drive away, but akin to another world entirely. It even has a completely different climate.

But sometimes, when the call of The Whisky is strong, such alien climes must be braved. And so, boldly we went, on Saturday morning to Auchentoshan Whisky Distillery, just outside Glasgow.

Auchentoshan itself is a very pretty oasis in the vast bleakness that is the outskirts of Glasgow. Let’s just say that the approach to the distillery, along the Great Western Road, is not so great in some parts, with its tower blocks and taped off crime scenes complete with a line of police solemnly combing a field for clues. By the time we got to our destination, we needed a dram or two.

We settled for coffee and muffins instead. At least to start with, since we had a bit of a wait until the next tour. Regular tours are offered on the hour every hour, but special group bookings can be made for larger parties. Two such groups came in and were whisked away while we waited. We were offered the opportunity to be include in this whisking so as to not have to wait, but such large crowds just aren’t our thing on guided tours. When our turn came, our group comprised six people. Much better than sixty, yes? Yes.

At the moment, Auchentoshan’s production has been halted for the regular summer maintenance and holiday period that many distilleries subscribe to. Our guide apologised profusely for the empty mash tun, but to us this was an unexpected bonus. We’ve seen them full before, but never empty, and so found our view of the internal workings fascinating.

Also fascinating was seeing the still room at Auchentoshan. Three beautiful gleaming copper stills, given that this is the only triple distilled whisky in Scotland. And yes, we can vouch for the smoothness of the result, both of the 10-year-old that we tasted at the end of the tour and the 12-year-old that we bought to bring home for liberal tastings. The younger whisky, which is apparently being replaced by the slightly older version, really needed no water added to it at all, it was so light. An excellent beginner’s dram. The 12-year-old, however, is slightly heavier (relatively, that is – still nowhere near the strength of an Islay whisky!), and it benefits from the addition of a drop or two (literally) of water.

Unlike many distilleries who keep their warehouses completely under lock and key or store their whisky barrels off-site, Auchentoshan’s warehouse is partly open to the public, giving visitors a beautiful view of the rows and rows of barrels maturing quietly in the coolth. According to one of the Auchentoshan employees, plans are afoot to open the warehouse fully to the public, and they are waiting on customs to give them the go ahead in this regard. Hmmm, waiting on a government department? Might be a while.

In the meantime, you can distract yourself by wandering through Auchentoshan’s gorgeous grounds, admiring the magnificence of their flower beds and trying to coax a Heilan Coo or two to come over and say hello. Saturday 29 August may be a good time to try this – Auchentoshan is having a whisky festival, including events such as cooking and mixology demonstrations, and cooperage displays. Visit Auchentoshan’s website for more information and to book your tickets online.

If you can’t make it to the festival, but want to taste some Auchentoshan whisky anyway, you can buy a bottle here.