Auldecole Spirits is an independent bottler from Hungary. Behind this brand is Norbert who has been working for Royal Mile Whiskies in Edinburgh for years. Despite his Scottish connection he kept writing in Hungarian under the name Barman’s Choice. In 2025 he decided to start releasing his own casks (and import releases from other brands).
I’m trying one of his first bottlings, a Torabhaig 2018. Check his website for new releases.
Torabhaig 2018 (61%, Auldecole Spirits ‘Barman’s Choice’ 2025, first fill bourbon cask #1169, 229 btl.)
Nose: fresh and inviting. It starts on lemons, subtle biscuity vanilla, salty sea air and something of juniper. Then apples, perhaps a hint of wax, along with some wool and wet limestone. Smoked barley, hints of mint, dried grasses and a touch of iodine too.
Mouth: oily and quite sweet, with a deep smokiness. A classic combination of lemon juice (and lemon candy) with cold ashes. Some saltiness and peppermint to add punch, but again sweet grainy notes to round things off. Then light olive brine and dark chocolate towards the end.
Finish: rather long, with darker ashy notes, drying oak spice and sweet lemons.
This is a nice Skye style. It’s the oldest Torabhaig I could try so far, and probably also the best. Complexity is a little limited, but it’s simply a very honest, clean and promising profile. I found this shop link in Hungary.