Auchentoshan Distillery
Built on the outskirts of Glasgow in 1823, Auchentoshan has long been thought of by us Glaswegians as something akin to a ‘Glasgow’ distillery. That was until fairly recently of course with the re-introduction of distilling proper within the city boundaries.
Originally built as Duntocher distillery by corn merchant John Bulloch, it was sold to John Hart and Alexander Filshie in 1834 who proceeded to change the name to Auchentoshan. Translating as ‘Corner of the field’, it certainly felt like a bucolic spot on a sunny September afternoon.
These days Auchentoshan is part of the Suntory Global Spirits family. I think it’s fair to say that alongside Glen Garioch it’s always been slightly overshadowed by its Islay stablemates, Bowmore and Laphroaig despite producing really interesting liquid. We recently had a Douglas Laing, Old Malt Cask, 20yr old in refill wood…fantastic.
Auchentoshan’s copper topped Semi-lauter in action. Always fun to see the waters going in at a distillery.
One of the seven washbacks, four of which are Oregon pine.
Auchentoshan tends to favour slightly longer fermentations in pursuit of those fruity esters.
Anybody for some tasty looking foreshots?
Auchentoshan’s USP is of course its triple distillation, meaning it’s typically a lighter and more delicate spirit than most double distilled malts. As a result of this third distillation the final cuts also come off the still at a not insignificant 80%+ abv. The still house area of the tour is all conducted from a platform overlooking the three stills which gives nice and simple visual representation of the the triple distillation at play.
The tour concludes with a wander through the on-site warehouses before retiring to the visitor centre for a taste of some of Auchentoshan’s core range offerings.
When we visited the distillery was in full production but we understand production has been paused for a good while since…an unfortunate consequence of the current economic climate in whisky. Hopefully it’s not long before Auchentoshan is back making whisky at full capacity. A great tour, friendly staff and definitely a Glasgow(ish) distillery still worth visiting.
