The first snow here in Southern Ontario. The 5 of us span a good chunk of Ontario and we all got hit with a couple inches today. It disappeared almost as fast as it came, and they're calling for nearly summer weather all week. We're in that indecisive moment where winter's squeaky gears are kicking back on and it's spurting all over the place.
And so we're indoors today to try Auchentoshan Three Wood, our third Auchentoshan here on S&P. They're all sweet scotches, but each in their own way.
We sniff around.
Rich and sweet smell.
The sherried flavors of figs, dates, and raisins are forefront. Honey, syrup, and amaretto type of sweetness in the background. Sean points to a little citrus.
It smells a little hot.
We agree this is a strong and great nose on this one.
We cheers.
It's pretty hot but flavorful. The syrup and dried fruits are there, but not as in your face as the nose. Simon points to the oak that's noticeable now.
Finish is warm and bitter Scott points out.
Sean points to a tobacco flavor which is there in the background yes.
Woody on the finish too.
Let's get to ratings.
0/10 - Undrinkable
20/30 - Mixer
40/50 - Drinkable
60/70 - Enjoyable
80/90 - Delicious
95+ - Ambrosia
Scott starts us off. He says this deserves to be in the 80s. It's rich, it's flavorful, it's delicious. He goes 81. Simon loves the strong sherry flavors here and at $80 in Ontario this is the most accessible scotch he's seen that would qualify as a sherry bomb. The finish isn't great through, it doesn't quite hold together perfectly, and the heat is a little too much for him. Still, very flavorful and you'll have a hard time finding a sherry bomb below average in Simon's books, so he goes 77. Kyle goes 80, he enjoys the warmth, nice mouthfeel, nice complex sweetness. Trevor enjoys it but it's not hitting the sweet spot, he goes 74. This was Sean's pick. He's had it before and picked it out specifically for us, so he's a fan. He goes 82. averages out to 78.8.
Overall, this is a good value bottle. If you want to test out whether you like sherry bombs without being forced into the $100+ bottles, this is a good pick. It lands a little above average for us, and we all enjoyed it. It's also got good heat without being overwhelming. It's likely this will end up on one of us' shelf at some point in the near future.
Cheers!
The S&P Crew
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