Category Archives: Tomatin

Tomatin 34yo 1976/2011 (46%, Mo Òr, Sherry Butt #4, 954 bottles, 500 ml)

I had a craving for a nice fruit bomb, so I pulled this Tomatin by indie bottlers Mo Òr out of its hidingplace. As many of you might know. 1976 is a pretty famous year for Tomatin. Lots of (Independent) bottlings from this year are considered amongst the best around. Bottles from this year by The Whisky Agency or by Duncan Taylor fetch amazing prices when sold at auctions. Just not a lot of Tomatin 1976 around at shops anymore…

Color: Copper Gold.

Nose: Yeah! is the first word that comes to mind, nosing this. Waxy and fruity, but also a nice kind of old dustiness. Chocolate, mocha and old laid back Sherry, more of the Fino kind if you ask me. Very structured and refined. Probably a refill cask. A little bit creamy. Distinguished, but not the famous 70’s (exotic) fruits in this, like we know from the 30yo. Very elegant wood, combined with an acidic kind of smell. Mocha again and a little hint of vanilla.

Taste: Nice peppery and woody attack at first and then yes, a mouth coating layer of tropical fruit cocktail, that pushes everything aside for a while. The pepper stays, but the wood vanishes for a moment, but returns. Great effect! Papaya, pineapple and passionfruit. Maybe some mango (maybe not). What a nice cloying finish of fruits, wood, paper and chocolate. The pepper is gone by now, but an added note of Gewürztraminer finishes the whole off. Nice.

This is again a perfect example of how great Tomatin’s from 1976 are. It may not be the most over-complex distillate around, but the way the fruits shines through is truly amazing. This is sooo nice. I love this!

Points: 91

Thanks go out to Henk for the Sample.

Tomatin 19yo 1989/2008 (40%, Master of Malt, Refill Sherry Hogshead, 399 bottles)

I caught a cold last week, which is very unfortunate when you try to write tasting notes. Fortunately my nose is back in business now, and in the process ‘got a rest’. Let’s start whisky reviewing again, with an example of a whisky that should be light and is ‘low’ in ABV.

There are two versions of this, one reduced to 40% ABV (this version) and one at cask strength, that was 57.6% ABV. This example was bottled by Master of Malt, maybe the biggest competition for The Whisky Exchange. Just have a look at their website for quite a nice collection, just don’t be fooled, a lot is sold out and stated as such. Looking around the net a bit, I already got a sense that the cask strength version should be much better. Those of you that are used to my reviews, know already that I don’t like reduction a lot, but I do admit that it sometimes cán work, let’s see if that is the case with this Tomatin.

Color:  White wine.

Nose: Toffee with some acidity. Seems sweet at first, but quickly turns into something dry. Cardboard like woodiness. Fern with a hint of licorice, toast and ash. Quite floral later on, but the cardboard doesn’t give way. Not bad, but atypical Tomatin, for this lacks the (tropical) fruityness, we all know. Apart from the cardboard it is powdery and slightly mouldy.

Taste: Again dry, woody and mouldy. Ear wax. Wood spice and slightly bitter. Watery. Nothing more to it really. I hope the cask strength version is (a lot) better, because this is nothing special. Maybe this was reduced to death? Very atypical for a Tomatin, since it lacks all forms of fruityness…

For me a completely uninteresting Tomatin. This must be a cask that was sold off for blending. Would be interesting to try the cask strength version though, because at 40% ABV… well you get the picture…

Points: 80

Tomatin 30yo (46%, OB, 1500 bottles, 2012)

Lou Reed’s Transformer on the record player and the new Tomatin 30yo OB in my glass, what can go wrong? As I already mentioned here, this Tomatin 30yo is a stunner. Yes let’s tell you up front that this will score in the 90’s. Don’t waste your time reading on, go out and get yourself a bottle. This Tomatin is all good, and that’s all I need to say!

The new 30yo was introduced in 2011, replacing the 25yo that still can be found. It’s reduced to 46% ABV, to fit neatly in the ‘standard’ range which now comprises of the 12yo, the 15yo, the 18yo and now the 30yo. The 21yo I reviewed earlier is a limited release and higher in ABV (52%), so it’s not part of the standard range. Still it looks like a huge gap to me between the 18yo and the 30yo. And a new 21yo or 25yo would be nice. For now, mind the gap…

When introduced, the press release stated it will be an annual release of up to 2000 bottles. Just so you know, the 2011 release was 1200 bottles and the new 2012 release is 1500 bottles. Keyword for the 30yo is consistency. By the way, these two 30yo’s are made up from 80% Refill Bourbon casks and 20% Oloroso Sherry casks.

Color: Straw, light gold.

Nose: Musty, and fresh. Lot’s of citrus fruit skins, oranges, tangerines and lemons. Also some old bottle effect, combined with (ear)wax. It has this similarity with the best of the 1972 Caperdonichs, which I like a lot. Great balance. A great one to smell. After some breathing we get another dimension of fruitiness. This time the citrus fruits are succeeded by more tropical fruits like pineapple, papaya and mango. There also is a dusty or powdery component to the whole. Still this waxy bowl of fruit is extremely nice and luckily all over the place. Some distant spiciness from the wood, but it’s hardly there, go figure after 30 years!

Taste: Again very nice. At first a short spicy attack and a little bit of wood. Next up, the tropical fruits again, papaya and mango. Not so much the pineapple and no citrus fruits. When the fruits subsides it shows a little a nice interplay with creamy (ice) coffee, vanilla and/or mocha. Yes the pineapple is here too, but it comes quite late.

Can’t imagine this was colored. It’s so light in color. That would be great, since we don’t like people messing with our drams, don’t we? Both the nose and the palate are neatly balanced. I really love these kinds of whiskies. One I thoroughly enjoyed. Imagine a great 30yo whisky and what they ask you to dish out these days. Considering this, this one is a steal (in some markets) and deserves a following. It’s 46% ABV and very nice, this makes it almost too easily drinkable and there is a possibility that this bottle will be empty in no time, so beware. The 2011 batch was also very good, still this one from 2012 scores one point higher, since it’s even more fruity.

Points: 91

Thanks to Alistair for the Sample and Stephen for the info!

Tomatin 21yo (52%, OB, 6 Refill Bourbon Casks & 1 Refill Sherry Butt #31648-54, 2400 bottles, 2009)

In the first weekend of October 2011 I went to the Whisky-Show in London with my friend Erik (both days). We liked the show so much that we went there again this year. Both years we tasted a lot of good whiskies. When we talk things over afterwards we always ask each other what surprised us. Last year we voted Tomatin to be the biggest surprise with all the bottles they brought. This year we had the chance to try several new batches of bottles we tasted the year before. The 30yo was stunning, especially the last batch is very good! Keep watching this space for Tomatin 30yo, but first we’ll have a go at one of their Limited Editions.

This Limited Edition 21yo is made out of 6 Bourbon Casks, since they don’t mention Barrels or Hogshead, I guess both are in the mix. For good measure also a Sherry Butt was thrown in. All casks were Refill casks. Casks were hand (or should I say nose and mouth) picked by Douglas Campbell. It’s called a Limited Edition since this is a one-off deal.

Color: Gold

Nose: Creamy, popcorn with a full sweetish toffee nose. Slight hint of wood and Fino Sherry. Also a slight hint of toast and fresh fruitiness with a nice touch of sweat. Smoked coconut. Might seem strange to you, but this makes it utterly balanced. When aired the whole gets drier, dare I say fruitier? Also a new marker shows up: coal.

Taste: Sweet and strict. Typical Tomatin Bourbon cask at first with a nice fruity finish but the Sherry influence is there too. It also has a little bite from the oak. Black fruits and some pineapple in the aftertaste, which make the finish wonderful, almost like a special effect, since the fruit shows itself pretty late. Nice laid back Tomatin with a perfectly balanced body.

If you’re into an old fruit basket, get yourself a, nowadays, expensive Caperdonich 1972. If you want a fresh fruit basket, and old skool whisky quality, then do yourself a favour and get a Tomatin. This one is great. Highly recommended.

Points: 88

Thanks go out to Alistair for handing me this sample.