Auchentoshan – Valinch 2012 Release (70cl, 57.2%)

Auchentoshan – Valinch 2012 Release is a whisky from Auchentoshan (Lowland). Bottled at 57.2% ABV, 70cl. Legal whisky-making started here on the banks of the Clyde in 1817 when the Duntocher distillery was built by John Bulloch. As well as being a notoriously challenging tongue twister for American whisky aficionados, Auchentoshan distillery is noteworthy for being one of the few buildings not damaged during the Clydebank Blitz of 1941. Unfortunately one of its warehouses wasn’t so lucky, and the picturesque pond just outside the distillery is actually a bomb crater. It remains the only distillery in Scotland doing 100% triple distillation and one of the very few where all the production is bottled as single malt. Glasgow-based Tennant’s were owners from 1960 to 1969 when they offloaded it to a publican, Eadie Cairns. The upgraded distillery was then sold to Stanley P Morrison in 1984. Since 1994 it has been part of the Beam Suntory portfolio. A superb cask strength Auchentoshan Valinch is named after the giant pipette used to remove whisky from casks for tasting. This whisky is basically the classic at cask strength.