Tomatin Cask Strength

Nose (neat): Bright and a little prickly when neat. The character is not unlike a dark, nutty ale or stout with malt, cereal, walnut and hazelnut aromas, but it has a curiously limited profile. There's some cask influence discernable as light floral and fruity notes, and as it rests in the glass it gains fullness but also seems to meld into a walnut-toffee amalgum. Some ginger and green fruit highlights are also detected and there is a nail polish aroma in the background. Nose (watered): Friendlier once diluted with a good splash of water. The alcohol nip is dispelled and fruity, sherried notes are now obvious, together with a little vanilla, but malt is still its dominant characteristic. Palate (neat): Cinnamon spice and oak tannin on the arrival, it's momentarily sweet but then develops a considerable bitter/sour tannic note as it progresses. Old sour walnut skins, tobacco (cigarette tobacco, not sweet chewing tobacco), a bitter herbal grassy flavour like gentian. It's unusual and a bit harsh (almost industrial) and there's a flavour of sour milk and very bitter black coffee. Palete (watered): Easier and softer on the arrival, but if anything the development is worse, as now it is bitter but also thin and "mean". Finish: Medium/long. Tannic, bitter, slightly metallic and fading to a leathery dark chocolate aftertaste. Adding water does not improve it much at all. The nose gives the distinct impression that there is insufficient complexity to balance the hefty alcohol content. Alcohol is a great medium to carry aromas, but you need to have aromas available to be carried in the first place, and in this whisky they are a bit shy and unbalanced. With water it becomes more approachable but if anything the lack of content is more obvious. The palate did not appeal to me at all. It's unusually, even uniquely, bitter and frankly I thought it was utterly repellent at first. This is the closest I've ever come to spitting a whisky out. The second neat sip was better than the first, but it still displayed an intense flavour almost like quinine. Water does not work any miracles here, making it more approachable but to no great effect. Tasted from a 30ml sample, and wild horses would not drag me to the store to buy a full bottle. "Adequate" : 70/100 (2 stars)

Stop number 56 on the SDT is Tomatin. Tomatin is a Highland distillery known for producing good single malts at a spectacular price. This 12 year old is a cask strength, single cask hand picked by the liquor super store Ace Spirits in Minnesota. Cask number 1833, bottle number 24 of 210. Distilled in 2002, bottled in 2014. 53.1% ABV and being cask strength I would venture a guess that it is non chill filtered and natural color. This is a light golden straw. I’ve tried 3 Tomatin 12 year olds before, the older sherry finished version, the newer “Bourbon and Sherry Cask” version, and the limited French Oak version. Let’s see how this one compares. Heavy floral notes dominate the nose, so much so that I immediately likened it to a barrel aged gin. Light oak, pine and a lemony citrus. Seriously gin-like. Vanilla custard, very light butterscotch and toffee. A candy like sweetness emerges, but its weak and covered in flower petals. After a good long while in the glass some sherry notes appear in the form of a maple syrup like sweetness. A tad nutty with some pears and cinnamon. Decided to add water to see if the higher ABV was masking everything I remember from the standard 12. Water adds more sherry oak and fruit and some honey comes in, but it does nothing to tame the heavy floral notes. Like the nose, the palate has a huge floral hit up front. Again, very gin-like. Peppery sherried oak and a lemon/pine citrus. Cinnamon, pears and little bitterness. Water drowns out everything but the floral and pine notes, making it feel even more like a gin. Medium to full bodied mouthfeel. A light oiliness, mouth coating and mouthwatering. The finish is quite short, floral, a touch bitter and dry. This is so very different than the other 12 year olds I’ve had from Tomatin. It’s also a disappointment as far as cask strength scotches go. Hard to rate this one as it doesn’t really feel like a scotch. More like a scotch-gin hybrid. Well priced for a single cask, cask strength though at only $43, which is only $10 more than their standard 12 version, but it’s just not what I’m looking for in a scotch. A solid 3. Thanks for the sample Lee, it was a unique experience for sure. Cheers

Ah, Tomatin. This distillery has quietly crept up my list of favorites based on some serious, high quality drams that won’t break the bank. You can find some tasty drams ranging from the NAS Cu Bocan to the 12 year French Oak to the 14 Year Port Finished to the 18 year sherry cask. Most of these bottles also run in the $45-60 range. I believe the 18 can be had for less than $80. There’s serious value there. This bottling is the single cask, cask strength version of the sherry-finished 12 year old. This particular one was selected by the fine fellows over at Ace Spirits in Minnesota. This is cask number 1833 and is bottle #24 of a scant 210 total. I bought this for the meager sum of $43 online. It’s 53.1% ABV, distilled in 2002 and bottled in 2014. It’s a very pale yellow in the Glencairn and remains clingy and oily even when you get sort of violent with it. The nose is fresh cut oak, vanilla beans with some faint sherry notes that struggle to get past the heat from the high ABV. The palate reminded me of fresh cut, yellow pine from when I worked in a local lumber yard while in my teens. The sawdust always found it’s way home with me and that smell haunts me from time to time, especially when I drink American bourbon. It’s here in spades, as well. There’s a nice wash of sherry sweetness on the tail end and into the finish which save this from being a total power play of oak and heat. The finish is somewhat long, oaky and hot without being too harsh. It’s not complex, but I think it’s pretty enjoyable and better than the regular 12 year old. I hope the other guys in the distillery tour group find this one enjoyable, as my last few contributions have been mostly busts. I enjoyed it and recommend it, especially for the bourbon fans out there. It’s a solid bridge builder in the world of single malt scotches. 3.5-3.75 stars, with a bit of a boost for the price point. Cheers.

The strong alcohol content is well perceptible on the nose, without being annoying, on the contrary supporting a beautiful herbaceous and balsamic freshness, with aromas of amaretto, lemon zest, peach, pineapple, candied orange, sugar glaze. Malt is very present, with a certain hint of yeast. I would say, quite young. The alcoholic blow on the palate is understandably tough, but not very balanced: the aromas of Tomatin usually are not so strong, but here they are really turned off by the gradation. Still a lot of malt, accompanied by cinnamon, raisins, pineapple, mango and a touch of citrus. The aromas struggle to emerge, burn quickly and leaving only alcohol and wood. Medium finish, alcoholic and astringent, of malt, wood and cinnamon. Cask strength bottlings attract a certain slice of the market, but it is not like that you have to chase them at all costs, and above all you need to know how to create them. The alcohol here asphalts everything, revealing the inadequacy of Tomatin's more than good whiskies to support this high alcohol content. Perhaps a more decisive aging would benefit, but this is defintely not the case: you appreciated just the smell (from which it can be inferred it could do better), but they can do much more.

Au nez : colle pvc, saucisse aux herbes au barbecue, vernis à ongles, terreux, acide, pomme puis vient une légère noisette et en fin de compte l’amande du sherry Au palais : fort et agressif, feu profond et froid, âpre et tanique, floral, noisette/amande du sherry , légèrement médicinal La finale est légèrement tanique et alcoolisées et manque de saveur si ce n’est une touche lointaine de noisette et un arrière goût métallique Avec une goutte d’eau :le nez tient un peu plus du sherry mais le palais n’est pas beaucoup plus agréable ni complexe, il est juste moins fort Note personnelle : 74/100 Un Cask strength bien trop jeune à mon goût, qui ne donne même pas autant de saveur qu’un 43 ou 46 abv, alors que cela devrait être l’inverse, ce whisky se retrouve donc juste chargé presque inutilement d’alcool. Le diluer n’y change rien, pas de complexité et presque parfois désagréable. Il est néanmoins sauvé par son nez intéressant, singulier et agréable.

A Stressful day at work and what now appears will be consuming my weekend. Ahh, but a momentary pause from the chaos (KAOS) of work; so I grab a sample from the group the @LeeEvolved has presented. The nose is floral with damp saw dust. Throw in some apple crumb pie with some vanilla cream soda. A nutty aroma comes through, though faintly, and after a good deal of time. The nose is quite enjoyable and simply soothing. The palate receives a thin bodied spirit. A flash of vanilla sweetness that gives way to a peppery spiciness. A bit of lemon zest come through, and as it fades with a bit of ground cinnamon. Fades, warmingly. A short finish of lemon oil, wood drying oak tannins. A fine, unassuming whisky that is a good everyday-er. It’s not going to wow, but it will not disappoint, especially the price. [83/100][Tasted: 1/26/18]