In 2013 Cadenhead’s, one of the most relevant independent whisky bottler of Scotland, launched a new line of bottlings of different age and different distilleries. The only constant across these bottling is the beautiful bottle shape very retro, the vatting of very few casks (hence the “small batch” name) and, it seems, the high quality of the malts distributed with this label. We now go to the Highlands tasting a Tomatin with a very “important” age statement.
N: it has a super Ego: the words that come up to our minds are: intensity, saturation and compactness. A “fatty” whisky and this suggestion comes from a hint of crayons, so clear and limpid. Underneath, the Tomatin distillate with its tropical soul: a totalizing mango, next to a nice pineapple (which to be honest tends to dissolve with time) and ripe banana; afterwards red fruit jam (strawberries) and peach in syrup. The absence of spice and wood aromas is surprising in an over 30 year old distillate. Warm butter.
P: the profile loses part of that “fattiness” and gets closer to the official 30 yo, with a tropical fruit component in crescendo: again mango and pineapple, guava but also a good acidity (stunning maracuja). A robust note of malt and a bit of strawberry complete a not hyper complex but very intense profile. We were forgetting the crayon characteristic, again present it works very well integrating all the components, very captivating and particular.
F: a nice malt solo, with the band of acid and tropical fruit on the back ground. A pinch of dried fruit (walnut).
We were amazed, after the tasting, reading how this “small batch” has been made using ex-bourbon barrels. Unfortunately the sample was over and we couldn’t try it again taking this aspect into consideration. Anyhow, this Tomatin has an explosive nose, tempting and juicy on the palate, it deserves really to be tasted if you get a chance. If you also have the need to reduce the amount in your bank account, purchasing a bottle could be an idea; this beauty costs around 300 euro, for sure a challenging amount but somehow balanced with the quality of the product. We translate all of this with a 93/100.
Recommended soundtrack: Luigi Tenco – La ballata della moda
