A merry cargo of Tomatins


August 24, 2026

A merry cargo of Tomatins

It was while tasting a very probable ‘secret’ Tomatin 1976 from the Thompson Bros. last Thursday (although afterwards I did wonder whether it might also have been a Balblair) that we got the idea of tasting a few from one of the fruitiest of Highlanders. And so, putting words into action… let’s dive into the stocks at random!
(Tomatin)

Tomatin 12 yo (43%, OB, +/-2025)

This baby was matured in ex-bourbon and finished in ex-sherry, so an ultra-classic combination. The last time we tasted the 12 was back in 2020 and we rather liked it (WF 84). Colour: white wine. Nose: fairly typical, slightly metallic (aluminium saucepan) and very much on green apples and pears, perhaps even some not-quite-ripe banana. In fact, all this gives it a lovely freshness and liveliness, even if we remain some distance away from the usual fruit bombs that the older Tomatins can become. Mouth: fresh and light, with melon and apple, papaya, sweet cider, then a small slice of nicely soaked orange cake (with Grand Marnier, naturally). Finish: not that short, a little more herbal, which is quite usual with young malts. Comments: we have to admit that the sherry is rather discreet. We’re sticking with the impression we had back in the Covid days…
SGP:551 - 84 points.

Tomatin 2008/2023 (63.8%, S Spirits Shop Selection, sherry butt, cask #900041, 620 bottles)

Watch out, at this strength, it could have a go at your gums… Colour: white wine. Nose: well, well, this is virtually the same whisky as the official 12, only with a great deal more wattage. Really! With water: really, we’ve recreated the 12-year-old, at a similar strength. Mouth (neat): melon liqueur and limoncello, plus a large glass of concentrated lime juice. With water: incredible. Finish: same. Comments: one extra point for the additional 20.8% vol. It really is the same whisky, I promise you, give or take a hair. Perhaps slightly fruitier after a little rest.
SGP:551 - 85 points.

We were also having a wee stash of young Cadenheads we’d never tasted…

Tomatin 10 yo 2008/2018 (54.4%, Cadenhead, Small Batch, 2 hogsheads, 564 bottles)

Colour: very pale white wine. Nose: barley, barley, barley, apples and paraffin. With water: barley syrup and some very light custard. Mouth (neat): an explosion of orchard fruits, gooseberries, apples, plums, and lemons. Granted, we don’t yet grow lemons in our Alsatian orchards, but surely it can’t be long now. With water: it becomes softer, while stewed rhubarb appears, together with an amusing little suggestion of chervil. Finish: long, precise, lively, very pleasant. Comments: a very lovely bottle. We may still find some, it was a ‘worldwide’ release.
SGP:651 - 86 points.

While we’re at it…

Tomatin 9 yo 2009/2019 (60.1%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon hogshead, 294 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: not very different from the previous one, a little rounder, a little softer, a little more on Spanish melon and candied angelica. With water: same. Orange syrup and pear too. Mouth (neat): close again. A little more citrus, we would say. With water: same, with a very slight white-wine sangria side. Indeed, that does exist. Finish: long, more lemony. Comments: I don’t think these babies were meant to be tasted one after another, they’re still very close to each other. But very good, if not totally thrilling. I slightly preferred the previous one, perhaps that’s the effect of vatting two necessarily somewhat different casks.
SGP:551 - 85 points.

Tomatin 10 yo 2008/2018 (54.9%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon hogshead, 270 bottles)

Colour: pale white wine. Nose: less on pear, more on gentle herbal teas and sweet apples. With water: no, here comes the Williams pear again. Mouth (neat): very lovely, lively, mandarins, citrons, lemon mint, woodruff… With water: the barley hits back, the lemons answer in turn, it’s all rather joyful. Finish: long, lively, more herbal, with even a wee touch of green Chartreuse. Comments: my favourite of the bunch. Listen, we don’t do affiliate marketing, but I’ve seen they’ve got it on offer at Whisky Antique, and if you buy a case, I’m sure they’ll pour me a glass of nocino next time we meet. So, I’m counting on you…
SGP:651 - 87 points.

Let’s stick with the youngsters…

Tomatin 9 yo 2015/2024 (56.2%, James Eadie, re-charred hogshead, cask #300033, 289 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: this is really lovely, much more on chardonnay (say southern Burgundy) and ripe apple. With water: the little green pears come out. Mouth (neat): we can really feel the impact of the re-charred cask, it’s interesting and it’s good. Apple and peach compote softened with acacia honey. Or something along those lines. A little cinnamon, very discreet. With water: in comes the orange, Timut pepper (from the cask, we imagine), pink grapefruit… Finish: long, with some very lovely citrus fruits of all sorts. Comments: well, this is excellent!
SGP:651 - 87 points.

Tomatin 15 yo 2008/2023 (54.3%, Whisky Picnic Bar, bourbon hogshead, cask #2200, 266 bottles)

Always those very lovely labels… Colour: white wine. Nose: ah, here’s a very different Tomatin, much more marked by varnish and glue, even wine vinegar, bandages, brine… With water: cottage cheese with little bits of pear. Mouth (neat): I don’t know whether it’s the additional years of ageing, but there’s this very particular glue and olive and argan oils character here. And a very expressive and determined lime that brings an acidity seldom encountered in malts. With water: same feeling, with something fermentary, almost bacterial, in the best sense of the word. Finish: Comments: another superb young Tomatin, very different this time. There’s almost a very, very, very, very, very (got ya S.) natto side to it.
SGP:562 - 87 points.

Tomatin 18 yo (46%, OB, oloroso sherry casks, +/-2022)

First time I’m tastingthis baby, imagine that, although Angus has tried earlier versions. Colour: full gold. Nose: this is the kind of sherry we love, with shoe polish, green walnuts, mustard, very dark chocolate, quality espresso… But as a consequence, Tomatin’s usual fruitiness has been rather subdued. Mouth: I find this excellent, you could almost believe you were knocking back an unmentionable number of copitas in a fine bodega in Jerez. In short, walnut rules the roost. Finish: and the walnut is joined by pepper. Comments: I think this is a really successful sherried version, bravo. Even if the distillate is probably little more than a supporting act by now…
SGP:361 - 88 points.

Tomatin 2007/2021 (56.8%, Riegger’s Selection, Guadeloupe rum cask, cask #900049, 279 bottles)

Guadeloupe rum? Bielle?... Colour: full gold. Nose: it would seem that Tomatin’s malt and a very expressive Guadeloupe rum are having quite a conversation together, with an impression of ripe banana, liquorice and olive oil, followed by sandalwood and incense. With water: melon skin? Mouth (neat): this is unusual, almost shocking, and yet it works, despite a few slightly soapy notes that must have been generated by this somewhat unnatural alliance. It’s all very ‘cross’ indeed. With water: the water seems to bind everything together a little, but we do get slightly lost in these twists and turns of flavours. Finish: salty, lemony liquorice. Comments: I find this rather improbable, actually, but it remains very good. In any case, it was well worth trying, no doubt about that.
SGP:562 - 82 points.

Tomatin 1984/2016 (44%, OB for Shinanoya Tokyo, cask #36504, 682 bottles)

My God, ten years already… The only individual who seems to be running even further behind is Mr Farage who, incidentally and unknowingly, had already siphoned off a certain number of our whiskies before Brexit, a story I may tell you one day… Colour: pale gold. Nose: this time we’re in the much fruitier Tomatins, but also the more fermentary ones, with a massive sense of IPA, think early batches of Sierra Nevada, or Pliny stuff. In fact, this is extremely beautiful. Mouth: Tomatin from the great old days, Gravenstein apples, very ripe bananas, pineapple, fermenting mirabelles, and tutti quanti. Finish: long, almost prickly from being so fermentary and virtually acetic. Comments: magnificent old-school Highlander, with a particularly pronounced ‘white wine’ side. In our mouth and in this context, that’s a compliment.
SGP:652 - 90 points.

Tomatin 30 yo 1984/2024 (51.6%, WhiskyLand, refill hogshead, 230 bottles)

Colour: pale gold. Nose: whiffs of vanilla, biscuits, yellow flowers, crushed slate, apple yoghurt… All this needs to settle down a little, water should help us… With water: very ‘old refill cask’, light coconut, light vanilla, balsa wood, milk chocolate… Mouth (neat): simple for its age, but that’s no flaw whatsoever. Pear, apple, a drop of seawater, a drop of dry cider. With water: water wakes it up and steers it towards a sharp and maritime sauvignon blanc. Samphire, small lemons, and almost some oysters. Finish: long, with a marked return to green apple. Comments: very good, even after the magnificent Shinanoya from the same vintage.
SGP:561 - 88 points.

Slochmor 16 yo 1978 (57.9%, The Whisky Connoisseur, cask #6443, +/-1994)

Frankly, Slochmor, what a name! It is of course Tomatin, but as for saddling it with the name of some hard rock doom metal whatever de la muerte band, we wouldn’t have dared. You may say that back in 1994, things were probably rather less established in that department… Colour: gold. Nose: quite the opposite of its name, all gentleness, with banana cream and acacia honey. Could anything be softer? Little thoughts of pink grapefruit add a touch of liveliness. With water: a little wet chalk comes in, adding a champagne-like side. Mouth (neat): traditional Tomatin of the period, more on riesling, mango and lemon juice. With water: and lemon blossom honey. A wee oily side too, rather unexpected. Groundnut oil. Finish: medium in length but very lovely, oily and yet citrusy. Not a common style. Comments: excellent but rather curious in terms of dialogue and style. In short, it’s almost philosophical…
SGP:551 - 88 points.

If you fancy that, we can keep going, there are myriads of Tomatins all around us…

Tomatin 18 yo 2003/2021 (51.6%, OB for Independent Spirit, 1st fill bourbon barrel, cask #1921, 228 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: it’s simple and it’s pretty beautiful, with barley, gentle honeys, ripe apples and cornflakes, plus a slight muesli side. With water: more towards earth. Mouth (neat): lemon juice, Campari, grapefruit, in short, it’s much sharper than expected. With water: the apple returns, with touches of lavender. Finish: quite long, slightly soapy, it’s the lavender side that gives this impression. Comments: nothing more to add.
SGP:451 - 84 points.

Tomatin 9 yo 2015/2025 (61.9%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #11.53, ‘Ticks the Boxes’, 1st fill bourbon barrel, 234 bottles)

These specs are almost provocative, aren’t they? Colour: white wine. Nose: coconut, vanilla, apple juice, white chocolate. With water: leafy notes, fresh rhubarb, chives and fresh chervil. Mouth (neat): apple eau-de-vie, kirsch, rhubarb. It’s a little brutal, but it’s quite lovely, if not entirely indispensable. With water: it’s good, nothing to add. Lemony and herbal barley. Finish: long, straightforward, simple, herbal. Comments: it does the job. As they said themselves, ‘it ticks the boxes’. A nice case of self-introspection.
SGP:461 – 82 points.

Tomatin 12 yo 2008/2021 (46%, OB, French Collection, 3-year Monbazillac cask finish)

Quite frankly, we’re a little scared here. Monbazillac, apart from the prestige cuvées, which we rather doubt they used, is a simple, sweet, highly aromatic wine. Basically, an apéritif for grandmothers. We love grandmothers, of course. Colour: gold. Nose: flambéed banana. Mouth: apple and cinnamon tart, banana and honey cake. Finish: a mixture of all that. Comments: it’s good, but it’s not hugely interesting, we think. Perhaps there’s something a little pleonastic about the combination of the distillate and the wine.
SGP:641 - 80 points.

Tomatin 32 yo 1991/2023 (45.3%, Fruitful Spirits, bourbon + 2nd fill PX, cask #14188, 91 bottles)

A pretty little beastie, probably. Let’s hope the name ‘fruitful’ is appropriate… Colour: gold. Nose: fruity, with ripe apple, but also camphory, medicinal, with balms and embrocations… Mouth: let’s be honest, and no matter where this comes from, this combination of very ripe yellow fruits and smoky camphor, or camphory smoke, is absolutely beautiful. In short, it’s full of mystery… We imagine this comes from the previous contents of this 2nd fill PX cask, but never mind, we’re very ROMO on this one. Finish: long, rather smoky, rather ‘trans’. Comments: Tomatin, I don’t know, but the combination, whatever it was, worked almost to perfection.
SGP:563 - 88 points.

Here, let’s have some fun…

Tomatin 25 yo (43%, OB, +/-2005)

We have, I was going to say of course, already tasted this baby (more than 20 years ago), but perhaps it’s time to revisit it, now that we have ‘some context’. Colour: light gold. Nose: pear, mango, IPA, rosehip tea, in short, classic Tomatin of the period. Mouth: but this is so good! An extra 20 years in the bottle have added depth, flowers, honeys and some very gentle spices. Finish: not that long, but full of gentleness and charm, a little old-fashioned perhaps, but all the more seductive for it. Comments: pure lacework, at a strength that we perhaps disparage a little too often.
SGP:651 - 88 points.

Tomatin 19 yo 1994/2023 (53.4%, Chester Whisky, bourbon hogshead, 162 bottles)

Colour: light gold. Nose: tart apples and yoghurt. With water: same, plus hay and camomile. That’s good news. Mouth (neat): cider, plasticine, clay. With water: the cask is showing a little fatigue, but it remains lovely and dominated by honeyed apple. Finish: quite long, already a little tired, but that only adds the patina of time. Comments: a very lovely malt, a little fragile, but utterly charming.
SGP:551 - 85 points.

Right, that makes 18, which is already well beyond the limits, but we took our time. Let’s call it a day, we’ll be back tomorrow with a lot more Tomatin…

(Merci, KC)

Check the index of all Tomatin we've tasted