Auchroisk "This is Like Spectacular" Apollo 9, The Whisky Barrel Exclusive

Rating: 9/23 I've read mixed reviews of this one, so I'm not sure what quality to expect. I am skeptical of taking a mild spirit like Auchroisk and putting it in a PX cask though. N: Syrupy PX like I just opened a PX bottle. Sweet, raisin, confectioner's sugar. Getting past that, there's a weird funkiness to this. It reminds me a lot of that weird funk in Glenfarclas 105 and Rabbit Hole Dereringer, so I think it's an effect of the sherry. It's sort of a vegetal and kind of savory funk. The alcohol does come out and bite a little past that, which I guess is reasonable with a proof this high. I also get some chocolate, though it's a little bit off. There's a bit of nuttiness too, which is of course oily. Dashes of bright lemon punctuate at time and I get some clementines showing up as well. There's a definite earthiness as well with faint tar to it. This is a very interesting nose, but it's also quite challenging. P: Syrupy with sweetness and, oh, what is that. It tastes like freshly toasted wood chips right out of the oven. This isn't that sawdust flavor that I get in Garrison Brothers and it really doesn't match any flavor I've gotten elsewhere. It's that warm immense toastiness I get when I pull a tray of hot American oak wood chips out. That really is the primary flavor here. I didn't expect that. Aside from that, there's some syrupy PX sweetness also vying for center stage. It's sweet with raisins, orange peel, and nut oil. There's some of that earthy funk with tar, but not as much as I'd feared. Still, I'm not a fan of that funk. That said, I do see why Auchroisk might have been chosen for this because some of its milky character does come out and add a layer of mellowness like it's saying "I'm sensing some crazy vibes here, so let's all just chill out". Not what I really expect from Auchroisk, but it kind of works in artistic way. I'm really surprised by the degree to which the Auchroisk shows through. That it shows through at all, actually. There definitely a sense of youth to this, along with too much funk and a sense of rapid aging. The sulphur is really starting to show itself now and I'm also losing some of the wood's sweetness. This dramatically lessens my opinion of this spirit F: Wood that has lost its sweetness, sulphur, and some of that sweet syrupy fruit. - Conclusion - This definitely tastes more youthful and unbalanced than That Boutique'y Whisky Company's Auchroisk 19 (17/23). Between the two, I think That Boutique-y Whisky Company has the clear winner. Time to compare this with some funky sherry finishes then. Glenglassaugh Pedro Ximenez Finish (12/23) is lighter (only 46% ABV) with more character from its distillate intact, but it also shows a lot more funkiness and its funkiness really lingers and tastes a bit more off-putting. That rapid aging wood chips character might be overpowering the funkiness a bit more in this. I swear that someone must have toasted a barrel at some point here. This tastes less balanced, but its flavors are better I guess. I would take this over the Glenglassaugh, but I think that the gap between the two is not so great as it is between this and That Boutique-y Whisky Company's Auchroisk 19. With its higher proof and (presumably) similar age, Glenfarclas 105 (12/23) is playing a closer game to what this is. My immediate impression is that this is better than the Glenfarclas. Now, I've discovered that I'm not a fan of young Glenfarclas because it's just so funky. At old ages though, I think that Glenfarclas does very well. So I might be underrating the Glenfarclas, but I find it to be comparable to the Glenglassaugh and inferior to this. It just has so much youthful malt distillate. It actually reminds me of one of those American takes on Irish Whiskey that are always so weird (note to self: compare with Ransom The Emerald later). This is more like someone had that and instead of letting it age for 25 years to address the funkiness, they rapid aged it with toasted wood and PX. That said, there is a bit of youthful meatiness here that the Glenfarclass does not have, despite its tremendous funk. I don't know - now this one is seeming more out of whack. On to Rabbit Hole Dereringer (another 12/23, apparently). There's lots of funk from the Rabbit hold, but still none of the meatiness that this has. Look, normally I'd expect to be docking points for a whisky tasting like freshly toasted wood chips, but in this case anything is desperately needed to cover that earthy, tarry, meaty funk. Ick! This is certainly not all bad, and the Auchroisk distillate fights nobly to maintain its dignity. Throughout this tasting though I have been convinced that That Boutique'y Whisky Company's Auchroisk 19 is far better than this. I don't think I can entertain any score higher than a 14 for this. And based on my latest impressions, I might go down to an 8. I'll need to come back to finalize my score another time. If I were to rate this now though, I'd give it a 13. It's a near disaster, like that Apollo mission Tom Hanks was on, not like the one it's named after. Hmm, coming back to this, its imbalance is glaring and borders on overwhelming. I get definite sulphur that I don't get from the other sherry finished whiskeys. They're funky to an unpleasant degree in an unpleasant way for sure, but I can imagine someone loving them. With the sulphur here...I don't see how this is OK. As a sanity check, That Boutique-y Whisky Company's Auchroisk 19 is still crushing this. Wow, I'm now thinking this is in the 6 to 13 range an am most likely looking at a 10 (though I'm considering a 9 very seriously). This isn't peaty sulphur here: this is low-end scotch that I wouldn't drink sulphur. This now tastes to me like I went to store, bought some highly sulphuric bottom shelf scotch like Piper's Clan, then tried to fix it with toasted wood chips and PX sherry. I really do like the Auchroisk milkiness here and the initial wave of sweet vanilla off of the freshly toasted oak is pretty nice too. The sweet PX flavor, while excessive, isn't something I inherently dislike either. While crude attempts at covering up the sulphur, these flavors do improve the dram. This one is really hard to rate because its worse than anything I currently have open. There's no way it's an 11. A 7 is faintly possible. I'm thinking an 8 or 9. I'm going to give it the 9. Thanks @PBMichiganWolverine for sharing this one. I was curious to try the younger Auchroisk with the aggressive sherry finishing and I'm intrigued by how different this was from my expectations.

Nose - raisin, chocolate malt, vanilla, nutmeg, vanilla, apple, apricot, orange, light sulphur, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - raisin, lemon pith, orange zest, dark chocolate, ginger, apple, allspice, nutmeg, vanilla, coffee, cola, black cherry, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with raisin, citrus, and baking spice flavors. Since this one has been a recent topic of conversation here, I figured I needed to thrown in my two cents from way back here in the peanut gallery. Wow, one whiff of this let’s you know there’s PX involved. There might be more PX than whiskey in this dram. This is like filling a bathtub with Sunmaid raisins, leaving it to fester for a month, and then diving in and rolling around. There’s also chocolate, baking spices, and something meaty which I’m interpreting as sulphur. Although it might just be a dried apricot note; I confuse the two sometimes. The palate is punchy and bright. The preponderance of PX downplays the youthfulness a bit, but it’s still there. More raisins, bitter citrus, chocolate, and coffee are in the mix as well. The finish is middling with those dark flavors lingering reasonably nicely. So I don’t hate this, but I don’t love it either. I like a good PX bomb as much as the next guy, but the balance is off here. I have an Edradour 11 Year that’s a total PX bomb as well, but the base distillate seems to stand up better to the dominant sherry influence than this one does. The bigger issue here is the youth and citrusy bitterness that pervades the palate. Still, it’s better than average for me and a really cool one to have the opportunity to try. A big thank you to @PBMichiganWolverine for providing the sample!

The nose is a sherry bomb starting with dark chocolate raisins followed by fruits of apples and oranges then a moderate spice that fades to musty grapes and a charred piece of whole wheat toast with high ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with dark chocolate raisins followed by fruits of apples and oranges then a high tannic and drying spice that fades to musty grapes, ginger, cloves and a charred piece of whole wheat toast with high ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with drying spices, dark chocolate covered raisins, toasted marshmallow, and ashy oak. The nose is completely dominated by what seems to be an overactive sherry cask that allows some orchard fruit and toast through that carries over to the palate with a high drying spice mid-palate before fading to musty grapes, barrel spices and toast that finished medium length with a drying spice along with sherry. This one didn’t work for me and comes off as youthful and abrasive that could have used more time in the cask to really calm down that astringency which makes this taste almost like sherry fire water. A huge thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for the generous sample.

Was really curious about trying this one…and sadly, I purchased it because I’m a huge fan of the Apollo missions. I’ve never had Auchroisk before, so really had no expectations. This is completely dominated by the PX cask. It’s like licking toast slathered in PX. Personally, I don’t see the point when a spirit is fully dominated by the cask. I feel there needs to be a better sense of balance. This is sticky sweet, heavy handed taken to the max. It’s like having those Cinnabons you find in malls. Overloaded with sweetness to such extent that you can’t taste the cinnamon. Hard pass….for me personally at least.

Continuing my series of reviews of the "Apollo Lunar Mission Bottles" from The Whisky Barrel, this is the time to talk about the second bottle i opened from this collection, the Auchroisk 10yo "THIS IS LIKE SPECTACULAR" Apollo 9, matured in first fill PX Hogsheads and bottled at 59.1%abv. First let me tell you that this is my second Auchroisk in this month, and the other one might just be my favorite whisky of 2021, the St. Margaret Of Scotland. Now "This is like Spectacular", honours its name completely. This "out of this world" dram, commemorates the Apollo 9 mission, which was the first to have a human walking on space. Russell Schweickart, the first astronaut to wear a portable life support system, emerged to space from the Lunar Module proclaiming: “Hey, this is like spectacular!” On the nose.... "HEY THIS IS LIKE SPECTACULAR". You just need to nose it. You don't even need to drink it. If the world smelled this good, life would be much better. Blackberry jam, hazelnut, Pedro Ximenez Sherry and the most incredible aroma of raisins ever. Wedding cake, very winey; marzipan, amaretto and other citric notes. After a first sip, the aroma changed into coffee, cocoa. Dark chocolate, quince and plum. Christmas cake and grapefruits. This is a breathtaking aroma, best nose ever. On the palate it is just delicious. Plums, followed by a pepper explosion. Molasses, cherries, Marshmallows and everything syrupy. Red Berries. Aftertaste follows the same rythm: Sherry supernova; Molasses and Winey. Rum and darrk chocolate. Very sugary, sugar cane; Dr. Pepper, Tobacco, a gasless Coca cola and some Metallic feelings. Overall, a superb dram, from a distillery that has blown my mind twice in two weeks. What is happening here? Do i need to fetch more Auchroisks? I have to. A PX explosion, super sweet and complex dram, that you won't fell its 59.1%abv at all. Incredible whisky, my score for it is 100 over 100. Slàinte Mhath!!!!