Tomintoul 21 Year Old

Nose: Soft yet tangy berries. Vanilla and Honey, a very slight whiff of smoke. Floral but not overpowering. Maybe a slight touch of spice. This is mellow and relaxing, yet satisfyingly complex.

Palate: Quite strongly floral, with lavender at first but quickly calms down to malt and honey. Slightly cerealy - I don't get the fruits so much on the palate. Smooth and velvety but it does become a bit flat and is disappointing compared to the very promising nose.

Finish: A bit of redemption here - long, fairly dry and the fruits do now return. Pleasant sweetness lingers for a considerable time.

I'd mark this into the 90s if the palate had sustained itself. Nevertheless, this is a very pleasant, calming and easy drinking dram.

This is a really lovely dram. A soft nose, fruity with some oak. The mouth feel is soft, smooth and creamy. Vanilla, delicate fruits, apples with apricot. It is very drinkable. The finish is mildly spicy from the oak, apricots and light fruits. Pears, melons. Not hugely complex but still Lovely.

Nose: Lovely vanilla strawberry ice-cream with some wood, apples , stewed fruit, and fresh wet grass. some fruit candy as Tom put it: "wham" bars (again i had no idea what those were, but quite agree).some pencil boxes.

Palate: Starts with quite some spice, then getting creamy and nutty with nice wood and vanilla sweetness, then getting drier with some chocolate and cream, bitter towards the end

finish :bitter chocolate powder, wood, vanilla and wood.

Being a big big fan of the distillery's 16 year old expression I couldn't resist getting a bottle of there new 21 year old bottling when I saw it sitting there on the shelf of my whisky dealership earlier this week. A quick thumb through their copy of the bible 2012 confirmed that Mr Murray was a fan too (and yes I probably would jump off a bridge if he told me it was an experience worthy of 93.5 pts :)) The bottle was purchased and here we are now, so to the nitty gritty...

Nose; Apples and pears (not cockney rhyming slang, it doesn't smell of stairs..) Very, very fresh, full of fruit, light and delicate. Beautiful, but if anything its weakest characteristic.

Taste; Apple again, vanilla coming through after a while, raisin. A bit of a bread and butter pudding feel going on after a while. Very gentle, the 40% ABV meaning it just coasts along rather than really taking off, but this is one to just be patient with, nurse, and let it slowly win you over. A few sips in, you really appreciate just how wonderful the taste is. The 16yo is great, an extremely quaff-able malt. This though I am just in awe of. The benefit of the extra 5 years maturation? You can only assume so.

Finish; Maybe it dies off just a tad sooner than you would like. Very small gripe.

In summary; This is I think, the tastiest whisk(e)y I have had yet. It doesn't have the complexity of the A'bunadh or quite the all round magnificence of the Highland Park 18, but on enjoyment of taste I think it's peerless. Yes it lacks a bit of bite, but I think that is by design to be in keeping with Tomintoul's "gentle dram" sensibilities.

Tomintoul is I believe the highest village in the highlands. The whisky that bears its name is , too, above all others around it, in my humble opinion. Totally superb.