TOMATIN 16 year old, Cask Strength at 56.4%, 87 points

Region: Highland
Distillation Year: 1997
Bottling Year: 2014
ABV: 56.4%
Cask Type: Bourbon Cask

Established in 1897, the Tomatin Distillery is located twelve miles south of Inverness at the village of the same name and is one of Scotland’s highest distilleries. Water is drawn from the Allt-na-Frithe Burn and the distillery is owned by the Takara and Okura Consortium.

The whisky has a flowery, perfumed nose, with a hint of lemon drops. The taste is smooth, malty, with sweet barley sugar and vanilla. A well aged dram.

This bottling has been done at cask strength and without the whisky having been chill-filtered, thus retaining the full flavour of the bourbon cask in which it has been matured.

Independent review from Whiskyfun: 87 points

  Colour: white wine.

Nose: not it’s not. I mean, similar. It’s much grassier, more of bread and yeast, yoghurt, coal smoke, even tar… Maybe that’s the higher strength. The fruits are almost absent at this point. Intriguing. With water: what, creosote?

Mouth: ah there, lemons… and peat! It definitely was an ex-peater cask, maybe even Laphroaig. The Tomatin absorbed peaty and medicinal notes like a sponge, it seems, to the point where this rather feels like some vatted malt. And I find it excellent! So yeah, there, a new recipe, 90% fresh and clean Tomatin + 10% Laphroaig. Have to try that one day. With water: superb! Amazing how water worked here.

Finish: long and coastal. Un-Tomatin, and really good. Comments: a very interesting bottle that started so-so and became wonderful. Reminds me of those Evan Williams ads showing girls before and after aging who… oh forget. SGP:552 - 87 points.