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Fahrenheit 173 - Aged Spirits

"I'm not an alcoholic, I'm an alcohologist"


	Tomatin single malt	5-May-2010

Tomatin (pronounced to rhyme with "satin") lies in the village of the same name a little south of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. By production capacity, it's one of the largest distilleries in Scotland, although the current rate of production is only a fraction of its potential.

Most of the Tomatin single malt goes into blends - Antiquary and Talisman that I know of - and it's fairly unknown as a single. (Until now, the only official bottling I had tried was a lack-lustre 10 y.o.)

The owners have recently started marketing Tomatin more actively and they have also released several new expressions. At the Limburg whisky fair I tasted four official bottlings, as well as an older whisky from Duncan Taylor:

Tomatin 15 y.o. 43%: (100% bourbon wood)
Nice nose with apricot, orange, vanilla and oak. Rich, fruity, fairly oaky palate with apricot marmalade. Unfortunately the oak and the fruits don't fully agree. Nice, oaky finish (needed a drop of water because of the weak nose and slightly hot palate). (83 p)

Tomatin 18 y.o. 46%: (bourbon wood, Oloroso sherry finished)
Nice, complex nose with gingerbread, caramelized sugar, orange and a nice note of oak. Rich yet dry palate with sherry fruits, oak and notes of honey and mint (too dry and oaky without water but nice with a few drops). (84 p)

Tomatin 21 y.o. 52%: (a vatting of six bourbon casks and one sherry butt)
Nice yet quiet nose with honey and gingerbread. Complex, rather nice palate with honey and gingerbread again, also white pepper, orange marmalade and a little oak. Oaky, spicy finish (perhaps a little too oaky). (87 p)

Tomatin 1995 cask 8510 12 y.o. 58.4%: (refill bourbon barrel)
Rich, thick nose with lots of fruits, among them pear, apple and orange, also oak. Rich, sweet, fruity palate, also spicy and oaky - unfortunately a little too oaky. Oaky yet nice finish. (85 p)

Tomatin 1976 cask 6816 33 y.o. 51.6% (Duncan Taylor):
Very nice nose: complex and unusual with notes of vanilla, citrus, oak shavings and linseed oil. There's also a hint of musty peat. Light, balanced, very nice palate with vanilla, orange and peach - at first sweet, then slowly drying. Nice finish with a note of oak. (90 p)

(Interestingly, I thought all four official bottlings were a bit on the oaky side. On the other hand, the Duncan Taylor bottling had just the right amount of oak, despite being much older...)