Tomatin has recently won an award for the “most grown up” distillery in terms of image in recent years. In fact, the look of their bottles has improved a lot with the last change of packaging, making more attractive a product that was already excellent (but you know, smoke needs mirrors, and even the eye wants its part, and every dog has its day). The official 12 years is so composed: ex-bourbon casks, refill hogsheads and sherry butts; after 11 and a half years everything is mixed and kept for 6/9 months in Oloroso refill, so it’s a finish, technically. Let’s forget the sirens of the packaging and let’s go back to wearing wig and toga and collar and go to judgment.

N: very varied and expressive: in fact, the plurality of woods translates into a plurality of stories… Definitely a tale of beautiful dried fruit (nuts and hazelnuts); a chapter is dedicated to orange and citrus peel, while an abstract red and yellow fruit makes its way through the pages without struggling. The main story, however, is dedicated to a warm malt, perhaps even slightly peaty (mineral notes), at times really exuberant.

P: here the plot is perhaps less intricate, with a delicate and slightly fruity proem (still indistinct yellow fruit) and then again a bildungsroman of malt, warm, crunchy and slightly mineral (rusks, some acrid peat veins, but mainly the barley you taste during distillery tours). More dried fruit (including hazelnut, walnut and even sherry raisins).

F: medium long, all between malt, honey and some raisins.

Good, a classic introductory whisky. It firstly looks simple, but indeed it’s not. With its mineral nuances of real Highland whisky, the main theme varies, all focused on malt, the real hero of this little epic poem. Is 84/100 a correct rate? We think so. On the other hand, it’s our blog, so…

Recommended soundtrack: Jacob Bellens – Untouchable.