
August 14, 2020

Little duos, today sweet-wined Tomintoul

Nicknamed ‘The gentle dram’, which I always found a little bizarre. First because we’ve tried quite some Tomintouls that had been pretty powerful, and second, because very few good people, beyond Whiskistan, know what a ‘dram’ is. Especially foreigners, who often believe that that word derives from the word ‘drama’. Not that they would always be wrong in that respect ;-).

Images of Tomintoul (53.2%, Malts of Scotland, 1st fill Tawny Port cask, cask #MoS19019, 359 bottles, 2019)

Images of Tomintoul (53.2%, Malts of Scotland, 1st fill Tawny Port cask, cask #MoS19019, 359 bottles, 2019)
Vorsicht, despite its name, I’ve just seen some very good literature that would suggest this baby rather stemmed from Balmenach. Isn’t life tricky? Colour: gold. Nose: there are traces of red wine indeed, as well as quite some earth, but this is not a red wine bomb. Limestone, concrete, leaves, then indeed, Cherry Heering and liqueur-filled chocolate. That would be cherry liqueur – that’s right, Mon Chéri. With water: some rubber, autumn leaves, garden peat, cardamom… Mouth (neat): not the easiest thing on earth. Pepper, sour cherries, some kinds of pickled fruits, some fudge, some earth… I have to say we’re a little lost. With water: very sweet now, with the Port coming out together with a rather huge leafiness. Mixed feelings. Finish: long and a little rubbery and bitter. Comments: fair and worth a try, but in my little book, all other bottlings by our friends at Malts of Scotland are/were superior, often very vastly so. Hard to say whether this was Tomintoul or Balmenach, as the Port treatment has been a little loud after all.
SGP:561 - 75 points.

And now a real Tomintoul…

Tomintoul 17 yo 2001/2018 (57.4%, OB, PX sherry butt, cask #1, 625 bottles)

Tomintoul 17 yo 2001/2018 (57.4%, OB, PX sherry butt, cask #1, 625 bottles)
Apparently, this was full maturation in PX, not a quick and dirty finishing. Colour: gold. Nose: it reeks of Pedro, which is cool, because many PX finishes do not; they would rather gear towards slightly unpleasant leafy notes in my experience. So, this is nice, on fine raisins, old sweet quality wines, chestnut honey, butter caramel and just touches of humus (that walk in the woods after the rain etc.) Pretty awesome. With water: honey-glazed meat (pork) and a little pine resin. Honey lemon beef jerky. That’s very fine. Mouth (neat): indeed this is good, rather more marked by wood this time (oak chips) but with just the right sweetness from the PX. Raisins, honey, Jaffa cakes, caramelised brazil nuts, Fruit Loops, maple syrup, praline and so on. With water: no too sure this time, some green spices coming out, stems, leaves, ginger tonic… Are we dead sure this wasn’t a finishing? Finish: rather long, very spicy and green when reduced, pretty excellent when neat. Really a lot of pepper in the aftertaste in both cases, even chilli sauce, tabasco, sriracha hot sauce... Comments: the aftertaste is quite something! End Of The Word sauce!
SGP:561 - 85 points.

Check the index of all Tomintoul we've tasted so far