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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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January 6, 2023 |
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A proper Tomin-toul session
All right, that'll be only three of them, but they do not abound at WF Towers, for reasons I can't explain. Still enough to do a short verticale of this 'gentlest of drams'… |
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Tomintoul 'Tarn' (40%, OB, +/-2022) 
It looks like this is a peater, but I'm not quite sure about the differences with Tomintoul's Old Ballantruans. The back label tells us that tarns are small lochs, surrounded by peat bogs that will shape the smoky character of this whisky. We agree, that sounds like pure **, but Let's see… Colour: straw. Nose: some light, coal-like smoke indeed, as if they had re-racked some Tomintoul in ex-Ballantruan casks. Indeed it does not quite feel like the distillate itself was peated. But this is not unpleasant at all, it is just light and, indeed, gentle. Mouth: feels 'enhanced' indeed, with a little smoked pineapple and apple and even a feeling of tequila. Very thin body. Finish: short, with some smoked water, ashes, and cider apples in the aftertaste. Comments: a funny, harmless peated expression.
SGP:443 - 76 points. |
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Tomintoul 11 yo 2010/2021 (56.8%, Whisky Is The Limit, 1st fill bourbon hogshead, cask #128/2010) 
Colour: straw. Nose: a little varnish and acetone at first, but there's some lovely coconut too (while coconut is rarely lovely in my book), white asparagus, artichoke, sunflower oil, raw celeriac… Some fun to he had with this one. With water: more fun, with balsa wood, new batteries, coconut, tree bark, celeriac indeed, parsnips… Mouth (neat): reminds me of one Tomintoul for Holland, by WIN. Now this one combines citrus, coconut and earth in an unusual manner, this is not a common style. The hogshead was a little special, shall we say (cannot be Tomintoul!) With water: citrus up, always good news. Some sour apples are there too, custard, coconut, apple cake, cinnamon, ginger… But root vegetables keep standing guard. Finish: long, say on mashed celeriac and turnip, sweetened with honey and coconut water. Presto, *** at Michelin's! Comments: a very unusual drop, very hard to score. Good fun though.
SGP:551 - 83 points. |
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Tomintoul 33 yo 1988/2022 (52.6%, Signatory Vintage, Germany, hogshead, cask #Rem 8080, 93 bottles) 
93 bottles? What happened? And what does 'Rem' mean? Remixed? Remingled? Remains? Remembered? Colour: gold. Nose: the glory of age. Some bits of coal, some old books and cigars, some sandalwood and beeswax, then some apple pie, tarte tatin, crème brûlée, mead, old Sauternes, honeys and stewed quinces. Unstoppable on the nose. With water: ooh an old Meursault! Not one by winemakers who can't behave and believe they're streets ahead of Coltrane and Hendrix, though. No, of course no names. Mouth (neat): superb. Apple juice from old varietals, more mead (or ambrosia indeed), Sauternes, honeys, top chardonnay from Burgundy, custard, sultanas, Danish pastries… This is truly fantastic. With water: beeswax and anything else you would find in a hive. Brilliant. Finish: medium, very good, perhaps just a tiny tad tired now, a little dry shall we say, but that was to be expected; after all this is an old Tomintoul. Comments: some very old Tomintouls distilled in the 1960s were awesome, but often a little tired and fragile. This one's more alive and kicking. Love it.
SGP:651 - 90 points. |
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