...where distraction is the main attraction.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Single Malt Report: Tomintoul 10 year old

Distillery: Tomintoul
Age: 10 years old
Region: Highlands - Speyside
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

From Royal Mile Whiskies:
Tomintoul - pronounced 'Tomintowel' - is Scotland's highest village and has become infamous for regularly being cut off due to heavy snow.

From The Bible:
The distillery was built in the 1960s and is modern in appearance, with large warehouses and no pagoda roofline.  The wildness of the surroundings contrasts with the delicacy of the district's malts.  Tomintoul has traditionally seemed the lightest among them in flavor, although it has a little more body than its neighbor Tamnavulin.



One tweet:

@kravitz_hubris Tomintoul 10yr, 5cL bottle from UK. Light in color & feel. Cheese & cinnamon nose. Sweet start then salty. Brief finish. #SingleMaltReport
6/9/11




thekrav's notes:

Part of a 3-pack of 50mL Tomintoul bottles that I purchased at Fortnum and Mason in London.  The other two bottles will be reported on in the very near future.

Tomintoul was recently purchased by White & Mackay, so much of its product is likely used in W&M's blends which are very difficult to find in the US.  But many of Tomintoul's single malts can be found in well-stocked liquor stores around The States.

I drank this neat.  Its color, a light sunny gold.  The nose was uncut grass, cinnamon, and mild cheese.  The palate itself had less character than the nose, a mild sweet evolving into an inoffensive salty with an almost watery texture.  Its finish was as brief as this punctuation.

Not a rave review, but not terrible.  Though I truly do not understand the pricing -- I can get two bottles of a superior 12yr Speyside at the same price as one of these.  The good news is that the other two Tomintouls that I've tried are significantly better.

Pricing - Overpriced! at $50  (Ed. note 1/1/14: my my, how times have changed)
Rating - 71