Auchentoshan 32 Years Old 1989 Cask #4907 (Finn Thomson)

Bottled by Finn Thomson in 2022 as a 32 year old single cask release, drawn from cask 4907 of 1989 vintage Auchentoshan with 180 bottles distributed to the European market at cask strength. Finn Thomson is a small Scottish independent bottler founded by the Thomson family of Dornoch Distillery, focused on long matured single cask releases.

Distilled in 1989 from 100% unpeated malted barley with Loch Cochno water from the Kilpatrick Hills, the wash was fermented around 62 hours in Douglas fir and stainless steel washbacks before triple distillation through three copper pot stills. The third pass at around 81% ABV gives Auchentoshan its signature high copper contact, removing sulphur compounds and fusel oils while concentrating ethyl hexanoate, isoamyl acetate, and other light esters. New make at this lifted strength was filled into a single ex Bourbon American oak cask.

Thirty two years in temperate maturation released vanillin from lignin breakdown alongside cis and trans oak lactones, giving vanilla and coconut over a soft cereal base. Char layer interaction built furfural and Maillard derived caramelised sugars, while extended tertiary stage maturation drove slow oxidation through the staves and ester transformation, integrating fruit and oak into a polished single cask profile at 49.9% natural strength.