Auchentoshan 26 Years Old 1993 Cask #243 (Alistair Walker Whisky Company)

Bottled by Alistair Walker Whisky Company in 2019 as a 26 year old single cask release, drawn from cask 243 of 1993 vintage Auchentoshan with 195 bottles distributed to the European market at natural strength of 42.2%. Alistair Walker is the eponymous independent bottling project of the former managing director of BenRiach, Glendronach, and Glenglassaugh, founded in 2017.

Distilled in 1993 from 100% unpeated malted barley with Loch Cochno water from the Kilpatrick Hills, the wash was fermented around 62 hours across Douglas fir and stainless steel washbacks before triple distillation. Auchentoshan runs every drop through three copper pot stills, with the intermediate and spirit stages collecting at around 81% ABV. The extra copper contact and high cut strip sulphur compounds and fusel oils while concentrating light ester compounds, giving a delicate spirit filled into a single ex Bourbon American oak cask.

Twenty six years in cool Lowland conditions drove slow oak extraction. Vanillin from lignin breakdown gave vanilla, cis and trans oak lactones added coconut and sweet wood, and char layer contact produced furfural with Maillard derived caramelised sugars. Settling at 42.2% reflects steady evaporative loss across the long maturation, with tertiary stage ester transformation integrating fruit and oak into a polished, refined profile over the lighter triple distilled spirit base.