I never thought much of Tomatin until last year. First I attended a tasting, and later that year I visited the distillery. I liked what I had tasted, but the distillery visit was a real eye opener. What a cool place! One of my favourite visits to date. Today’s Tomatin is and indie bottling from Càrn Mòr from their exclusive Celebration of the Cask-series.
I got to try this because a whisky buddy was nice enough to share a sample. He didn’t much care for it at first, but when he revisited his bottle after a while, he came to the conclusion it was much better then he initially thought.
Tomatin 1987/2014 (46,3%, Càrn Mòr ‘Celebration of the Cask’, C#495)
Nose: Soft oak with lots of tropical fruit. Mangos and ripe banana’s, with an interesting note of lemon yoghurt. Apples, but the kind were you’ve already cut it in pieces and left it out for a bit, and it just starts to get some brown edges. A touch of mint tobacco in the background.
Taste: Intense sweet honey with rich flavours of kiwi, white grapes and almond oil. Very interesting palate, and certainly different. Some raisins with a hint of menthol.
Finish: Lingers for a long time. Honey and tobacco.
Rating: 88
I’m not sure this Tomatin is for everybody, but if you stay open-minded, there’s a good chance you’ll be pleasantly surprised by all the interesting things this whisky has to offer. I for one can understand why my buddy wasn’t convinced at first, because this Tomatin is a bit of an eccentric whisky, but in the best possible way 😉
Photo: Master of Malt