Tomintoul Distillery (W&M.#3)

Whyte & MacKay is no longer in legal possession of Tomintoul Distillery, having sold it to Angus Dundee Distillers back in 2000. That being said, the reason for these tastings are to try and recognize single malt characters in W&M blends at the final tasting, and I reckon there were quite some Tomintoul single malt in the W&M blends back in the days. Today I'll actually have my first ever cask strength Tomintoul, but lets start off with some probable lightweighters. I guess I'll make this session in two parts.

#1


Tomintoul 17yo 40% OB St. Michaels OB for Marks & Spencer

One bottled for/by(?) high street groceries and clothing chain Marks & Spencer of the UK. They do in fact have a nice variety of wines, but hardly a place you'd normally go to because of their single malt selection. Adjusted with some E's to a nice copper hue. Smells slightly bitter, varnish, lime peel, old chewing tobacco, burnt. Even though all these put together should make for grim expectations, its not the case, its just very bland somehow, I really have to use a while to distinct some real notes here by just the smell. The taste is burnt, bitter oranges, kirsch-wine perfumy, needs some water I think. It's not bad at all, it's just a very weird flavor for a whisky. With water it turns more vanilla, rubber, acid, pool water with chlorine, extremely weird is the best description I can give. Absolutely worth trying if you want a "once in a lifetime" experience that's not necessarily good.

Hard to give points, doesn't even come across as whisky to me: 3


Tomintoul 10yo 40% OB

I think this is the most recent standard OB, which states both "Single Highland Malt" and "Speyside Single Malt" on the bottle, benefitting on both names, as usually other distillers seem to wanna profile themselves with either or. Golden hue. It smells light, floral, vanilla and malty. The taste is rounder and sweeter, toffee, honey, creamy, vanilla, butterscotch, very gentle. The aftertaste is bitter and peppery. Not a finish that I really enjoy, but here it provides a nice break after the very gentle and smooth palate.

Gentle and pleasant, one for the newbies or blend-lovers: 4


Tomintoul 33yo 43% OB

There aren't many other distilleries out there with 27yo and 33yo standard bottlings, but I guess being such a young distillery, founded in 1964, they must do something to make some ground on the market. They have a big blending plant, but the single malts I guess have not been used too much there as they now seems capable of producing such old whisky for the single malt market. Same color as the 10yo, how strange. Smells smoky, pine wood, paint, vanilla, oak, rum, smoked salmon and mustard sauce. The taste is drying, sweet licorice, very pleasant with those two nuances being the only two I'm able to spot. It's almost like a dry liqueur whisky style. Dirty Harry with malt. But, for being a 33yo single malt, it sure could use some better wood or higher strength or whatever really, to enhance this rather light and easy produce. I have tried more complex 10yo's even at 43%abv.

A good whisky: 5.5


#2

Tomintoul 43yo 1967-2011 42.8% The Nectar of the Daily Drams

Then for some oldies, perhaps, and hopefully, this will make me understand a bit more about Whyte & Mackays motivation for buying this distillery. Remember, this whisky was distilled only 3 years after the distillery first opened. The color is same as 33yo and same as 10yo. Golden. It smells sweet and honeyed, nectar-ish. Fresh cinnamon, coriander, vanilla, sweet smoke, sauteed onions, baked apples, apple pie, peach, fresh and fruity. The taste is hot, spicy cinnamon and strawberries, currant jam, aniseed, licorice, vanilla, perfectly drinkable, perhaps it just needs a small drop of water to reach that higher state that's required to make for full enjoyment purpose only. With a small drop of water it turns lighter and fresher, but the spicy notes disappears. Try it neat first, I beg you.

A malt that shows that 33yo isn't even necessarily old enough for a Tomintoul: 7


Tomintoul 43yo 1968-2011 43.2% The Whisky Agency

From a bourbon hogshead. I know that whiskies in hogsheads doesn't always stand the test of time as well as those in the bigger puncheons and so. Hopefully this whisky won't be another over-oaked one. Same color again. It smells light beyond light, toasted bananas and vanilla. No need to go any further here. It's far from oaky, and seems much younger than 43yo. The taste is yoghurt, vanilla and big amounts of burnt oak, charcoal that is. This one is not for me unless some kind water can help. It just gets even lighter, this was a bit of a letdown after the very good Nectar.

Light stuff, a whisky that seems barely a fourth its age: 3.5


Tomintoul 39yo 1972-2011 45.7% The Whisky Agency

Another one from TWA, another one from an ex-bourbon hogshead, hopefully this one can be able to create more of a thick and syrupy bourbon-feel as i'm used to find from these old bourbon casks. Or it could just be a peppery one, all good. It smells exactly peppery and robust, herbal and grassy, lowland-style, some floral notes of dandelions and buttercups. But most of all there's grounded white pepper and mint. The taste is heavy on licorice, pepper notes and grassiness, kind of raw. It's quite amazing how there's now vanilla or oaky notes in the whisky at all after spending 39 years in a hogshead.

Again it seems a bit light for its age: 5


Tomintoul 44yo 1967-2011 47% The Whisky Agency

This one is just from an ex-bourbon wood, which means its probably from a bigger barrel. I don't know if that would make any difference at this point. A lighter color than the past ones. Smells vanilla and cream, butter, vanilla extract, fried noodles, maple syrup, another one that's light and easy on the nose. I hope the palate follows up, and maybe with a small twist, just to make it all more exciting. The taste is sour, lemony, lime rind, passion fruit, grape seeds, needs some water. Now it turns lighter and easier. Once again it seems that a Tomintoul doesn't necessarily behave its age.

Light and easy once again: 5


Tomintoul 14yo 1976-1990 62.6% James MacArthur's

Now, a jump at over 15%abv, I hope that this will show me the reason Tomintoul still has a single malt production, despite its blending plant being so much bigger in production. As I've mentioned before, I recommend JMcA for bottling those young whiskies at their prime before many other IB's will, instead of waiting for them to become old and hard to distinguish from one another, such as a few that we've seen in this session. Maybe they should have bought some sherry casks when they opened this distillery? Golden color. It smells sweet, vanilla, heather, honey, roasted almonds, dried barley, sage, soap, mint, eucalyptus, very fresh. The taste is drying, minty and peppery, a rather harsh experience, I'll have to add some water, even though it does much mroe of the walk than the prior ones. A few drops of water makes it more tender, some cinnamon, apples, pears, fruity, sweet spices, garlic, herbs, roasted almonds, dark chocolate, cardamum. The aftertaste is more bitter and makes me a bit nauseated.

If you look apart the finish, it'd be a winner, but the ending ruins an otherwise great dram: 6