The grand finale in tonight's vertical tasting is the Tomatin 18 Year Old. This one is finished in Oloroso Sherry casks. No mention of how long.
- Nose (undiluted): dry sherry, raisins, walnuts, dark chocolate, oak, a bit of char, and something herbal, maybe some rosemary
- Palate (undiluted): rich mouthfeel, obvious sherry influence, vanilla, some cinnamon, orange zest
- Finish: medium length, bright grapes, vanilla, green apples, some oak notes and a touch of coffee and cocoa powder lingering
Everything seems right, but I want more out of this whisky. I want more...something. I'm not sure what's lacking, but it isn't blowing me away. Maybe it's palate fatigue, but I don't think so. It's almost like the flavours aren't quite clear or defined enough, like watching a VHS on an old tv set when you're used to blu-ray and a 4K television. It gets better with a longer rest in the glass, but I still want more...(clarity?) from this whisky. It would be interesting to see what time and air exposure did to a full bottle of this. There's a lot of potential and lots of good flavours, but they don't feel fully integrated. Would I buy a bottle of this? Maybe, if the price was right, I would. I feel like time and air would bump this up 3 or 4 points for me.
@Victor @cricklewood You mean like this?
connosr.com/j-p-wisers-union-52-whisky-rev…
Detailed and yet burdensome to read.
I agree it was a lot of work... but it sure was a lot of fun! And it went a long way to help me understand Canadian whisky.
@OdysseusUnbound,
I feel the same way as you. I much prefer to try a whisky successively over a period of time to get a better understanding of it prior to review. It can often mean a few points up or down from my initial impression.
I will often state it in a review if all I've had is a sample.
That said multiple session reviews poses it's own set of challenges, trying to combine or pare down your notes and not ramble too long on a subject. From reading what people are looking for in a review on this forum and the stats on my blog you'd be hard pressed to pin down one unifying view on the subject
I find the blog stats funny, if I had a dollar for everytime a particular review was seen I could buy premium whisky. Others I wouldn't even be able to buy candy.