Auchentoshan 27 Year Old - Single Cask (Master of Malt)

Punchy is right, and somewhat smooth, but the punch almost knocks you out. "light floral notes and a little ground white pepper" is correct, but not very interesting. I am not going to let it sit for an hour, I will pour it down the drain. Please buy a sample and add another review just in case there is something wrong with me today :)

On the first whiff, you already realise you have got a special dram in your glass. Vanilla and citrus, as usual, with something milky and chocolaty. Milk chocolate? Chocolate milk? Marshmallows. Grain biscuits. But then suddenly it turns completely floral! I am reminded of violets and dandelions. Pinch of pepper. The longer you wait, the more delicate it becomes, but the more flowers you get as well. On the palate, it is slightly oily and spicy. Mouthcoating. The flowers take hold on the palate, mostly violets. Rosewater. Parma violets, too, the hard candy. It balances on the edge of perfumy, though. Pity. Maple syrup and honey, light vanilla. The pepper becomes quite loud, now. Adding water emphasizes violets and crystal sugar and pushes the whisky over that fine line. FWP, damn it! Grrrrr. The finish is long on peppery rosewater. No. This is a let down. The nose was teriffic at first, but the palate and finish exhibit an extremely floral Auchentoshan, flirting with perfume. It suffers from the same fate as early 80s Bowmore, I fear. TIP: I found that, if you add enough water and leave it for about five minutes, it becomes better. The FWP evaporates and makes room for nice citrus and vanilla, drawing it back above 80 points. But you will need to be patient and add a lot of water, something not everybody will be inclined to do. Mark Dermul - The Toshan Man.

The taste and finish indeed have a very bad case of FWP. I did not have Mark's patience to give it water and time so I'll have to bug him for a retaste I guess, but it should be good without doing this. If I want to wash my mouth with marseille soap I'll use marseille soap. It's much cheaper.

A bit daft surely to rate a cask strength 27yo lowland whisky as 1/2 a star because you have no patience? This has been sat around maturing for 27 long years.. and you can't take 30mins-an hour to appreciate it? Poor show