Tomintoul is a relatively young distillery in the heart of Speyside, since it was built in the Sixties. In the past we’ve had quite a few OBs, mostly not fully convincing, while some single casks bottled by indies (take this glorious Tomintoul by Silver Seal) reached stellar heights in our personal book. Today we’re having the very last Tomintoul we have in our caveau: it’s a peated NAS launched in 2007, called ‘Peaty Tang’.
N: very fresh and young, with a green cereal in great evidence; porridge, yeast, oat and malting floors; the reader will be shocked to find a hint of wild fennel. Peat is gentle, as in the House’s tradition (Tomintoul, the gentle dram), with a mineral and acrid hint, and a soft veil of smoke. Black olives. A pleasant nose, simple but nice.
P: there’s an alcoholic note that we can’t avoid to find; but luckily the peat adds some character to the spirit and covers some of the off notes that sometimes we found in Tomintouls. There’s a very nice peat smoke, more clear than on the nose, combined to an abstract sweetness made of vanilla and white sugar. Not much else, apart from a note of cereale and young, herbal spirit.
F: not that long, clean, all on a gentle peat and a gentle sugar.
Serge’s opinion is perfect, we totally agree: it hasn’t real flaws, it’s simple, young and a bit weakish, but we’re sure that time will make it better. That said, a pregunta for Tomintoul: would you mind bottling at 46% abv, please? Thanks. 77/100, see you next time.
Recommended soundtrack: Olafur Arnalds – For Now I am Winter.
