Auchroisk 5 Years Old 2012 Cask #9752 (Whiskymax)

Bottled by Whiskymax in 2018 as a 5 year old single cask release, drawn from cask 9752 of 2012 vintage Auchroisk with 420 bottles distributed to the European market at high cask strength of 59.5%. Whiskymax is a European independent bottling project focused on small batch single cask releases at natural strength, with selections drawn from across Scottish distilleries.

Distilled in 2012 at the Mulben distillery built by Justerini & Brooks in 1974, the wash was made from 100% unpeated malted barley with soft Dorie's Well water and fermented for around 53 hours in stainless steel washbacks. Auchroisk runs the spirit through four wash and four spirit stills with constricted lyne arms, encouraging high reflux that returns heavier compounds back to the pot. Shell and tube condensers give further copper contact, stripping sulphur compounds, with the spirit collected at around 70% ABV and filled into a single Port pipe.

Five years in Port pipe conditions drove distinctive fortified red wine character into the lighter Speyside base. Port aging in pipes brings residual tannins from Portuguese varieties like Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz, alongside anthocyanin pigments and oxidative aldehydes from extended oxidative cask seasoning. The shorter maturation keeps emphasis on primary cask interaction, delivering figs, plum, cocoa, and leather integrated with the spirit's underlying light ester signature at 59.5%.