The Toshan Man

It had been way too long since I had visited the Auchentoshan distillery. The last visit dated back to June 2011. So I was very much looking forward to spending the Valentine weekend with Dearly Beloved (where would I be without that fantastic woman?) in Glasgow. The reason was three fold in fact. One: spend a cozy weekend with my wife and whiskyfriends Niek & Ilse in Glasgow. Two: we had a couple of interviews lined up for the whisky book that Niek, Ilse and myself are writing. Three: a very, very special bottle that Niek and I had purchased sat waiting in the Auchentoshan vaults at the distillery.

After a short and uneventful flight, we immediately checked into our hotel, dropped our bags and hailed a cab to take us directly to the distillery at the foot of the Kilpatrick hills. Amazingly enough, we had to give the cabbie directions! The distillery staff were expecting us. The Distillery Manager, Mr Alistair McDonald, took it upon himself to give us a behind-the-scenes tour and treat us like VIPs. Ah, the power of the Toshan Man (that is a joke).

The Toshan Man & Alistair McDonald - distillery manager

Believe it or not, Alistair showed us a few places that we had not yet seen before. But that is all I can say about it. If I told you more, I would have to kill you…

During the tour, the lovely Wendy, who basically runs the visitor center, poured us some Three Wood and 21 Year Old. Very good! But we did not get them for free! We had to work for it. Sort of. I got the honour of adding the yeast to the wort in one of the washbacks. Alistair approved of my work. ‘Nice spread, Mark’, he joked. We stopped to chat with a couple of the staff, such as Colin at the mash tun and Danny in the still house. And in the meantime, Ilse kept taking photographs. As it should be (she was the one with the professional camera, after all).

Triple Magic

Once we arrived at Warehouse No 3, we got the opportunity to taste the two Bottle Your Own casks available. It is a 17 Year Old 1996 and a 12 Year Old 2001, but both are simply stunning! We promised to fill our bottles later, since we were a bit pressed for time. And the people we had been waiting for had arrived. Good ol’ friend Jeremy Stephens (now Process an Spirits Quality Manager) and his boss, the illustrious Master Blender at Morrison-Bowmore Distillers: Rachel Barrie.

For Niek and Ilse, it was a pleasant re-acquaintance, but for Sofie and me, it was the first time to meet this wonderful and inspiring lady. Alas, the clock kept ticking and we were here to videotape an interview with the LadyBlender after all, so she invited us to the Blender’s Room. The interview far exceeded my expectations, showing not only that Mrs Barrie was well prepared, but also very interested. The interview lasted close to half an hour. It was a true pleasure to see the combination of professionalism and passion combined with knowledge and enthusiasm. You can tell that Rachel is my (whisky) muse. I told her as such, of course, which made her giggle.

Interview with the Master Blender

‘I’ve been called a lot of things, but never someone’s muse!’

Ah, the power of the Toshan Man (again, a joke). The content of the interview remains secret for the time being of course. It will first appear in the aforementioned whisky book that Niek, Ilse and I have been working on for the last three years.

When the interview was done, we were handed a huge box. Niek and I already knew what was inside, of course, but we still felt like children at Christmas unwrapping the thing. Inside was something I had been craving for ever since becoming the Toshan Man so many years ago. It is the Toshan Summa Cum Laude, the Ultimate Auchentoshan, the Holy Grail of the Lowland, the… well, you get the picture.

If it was not for my good friend Niek, I do not think I would ever have been able to put this beauty in the collection, but I am very honored and proud to say that bottle 100 of 171 of the Auchentoshan 50 Year Old 1957 is finally part of the Toshan Man Collection (and I’m sure Niek is relieved not having to hear me rant and rave about wanting to get one anymore).

We had a nice lunch planned in the Artisan Restaurant with Jeremy and Rachel, but unfortunately Rachel was called away and could not join us. We were stuck with Jeremy Stephens. Well, at least we had a private chauffeur, another one of the things that he is not very good at. I am of course making fun of my good friend – he is a very professional employee of MBD and extremely talented, but we do love some good banter and play jokes all the time.

Derek Mather, the chef extraordinaire of the Artisan (in Wishaw) prepared us an amazing Octormore Beef in Auchentoshan gravy. He also poured quite a few fantastic drams, including some independent offerings. If you are ever in the neighbourhood, this is one of the hidden gems that you simply must visit.

During desert – a stunning sorbet with Balvenie 30 Year Old, blimey! – Jeremy and I made a bit of a bet. I cannot reveal the details, but let us just say that Jeremy is quite convinced that I cannot pull off what I said I would. It is, of course, related to Auchentoshan, but that is as far as I am willing to go. It would not do for anyone to interfere and increase Jeremy’s chances of obtaining a free Bottle Your Own. But I think he has made a grave error in underestimating the power of the Toshan Man (not a joke, this time!). Someone way above Jeremy’s pay grade may expect some correspondence in his inbox pretty soon. Getting sweaty palms already, Jeremy? As it should be.

We took our leave after lunch, after profusely thanking Derek for his wonderful lunch and the equally beautiful bottle of ‘Tatooine’ Auchentoshan 1990 that he offered me. Jeremy invited to drop us off at our next stop, which was the HQ of Douglas Laing & Co, where we were expected for an interview with both Fred Laing, the CEO, and his right hand man Jan Beckers – a fellow Belgian! Needless to say, it was a very long night.

We took the Saturday off to visit the city of Glasgow proper, grab a burger at the newly opened Hard Rock Café on Buchanan Street and stopped for drinks at Pot Still, ate a late dinner at The Bon Accord (Paul, you rock!) and were treated to a fine nighcap at the Ben Nevis whisky pub. Then we turned in as we would be returning to the distillery the very next day.

There and back again

Ramblings

Then it was time for the Toshan Summa Cum Laude: the magnificent Auchentoshan 50 Year Old 1957, that Niek and I had purchased together. Currently priced at no less than £5,000… Ouch! And still. When tasting this, my socks went up and down my ankles. Twice (and maybe not just the socks)! Quite stunning, hitting the pleasure center in your brain from the first drop! As it should be.

For our third and final video, we took to the outside, in front of Warehouse No 3, starting off in a Glasgow drizzle that soon passed. Ah, the authenticity. We tasted another Bottle Your Own offering, but were not allowed – understandably – to film inside the warehouse. Still, we are very happy with the result and hope you will be too.

Once that was taken care of, it was only a matter of minutes to finalize our shopping spree (the haul was quite impressive, even for us) and grab a taxi back to the hotel for a final lunch before hopping aboard our jet back to the mainland. After a two hour drive, we were only too happy to drop into our own bed again. It will be another one of those weekends that will be long remembered.

As it should be