Tobermory 11 Year Old 2006 The Ultimate

Tobermory Distillery is set to reopen this year, after two years of refurbishments. Next to their very peaty Iona (only available at the distillery) and their mildly peaty Ledaig, they also have an unpeated malt named after the distillery. This youngling was bottled from a first fill sherry butt and cut to 46% by Dutch bottler Van Wees in the series The Ultimate.

OMG! This is just weird on the nose. The typical musty character of Tobermory goes head to head with some fresh sherry notes, making for a cacophony of aromas. Red berries, raisins, candied apple and a truckload of caramel bump into rubber, rotting wood and freshly polished leather with a hint of chocolate milk. I am not convinced.

On the palate, it is mostly the sherry that does the talking, putting the typical distillery character in the background. Not a bad thing, I’d say, for now I get mostly red fruit, leather, raisins and creamy sherry. A bitterness as if from cold coffee and a salty note finish things off. This is much better than the nose promised, but I’m still not a happy camper.

The finish is very long, creamy and dark.

Well, that was special to say the least, but it did not completely work for me. Thank you for the sample, Anthony!

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