The whisky spotlight can only shine on a handful of distilleries such is its nature and scope. The craning of the neck and limitations of an environmentally friendly light bulb, kill off any illusions of grandeur. Whilst it will forever shine upon Tormore, the arrival of each New Year here at Whisky Rover prompts recollection and new benchmarks.
For 2017 the spotlight has been jostled towards a handful of distilleries that have only been covered briefly so far during the 7 years of existence. An orderly queue has formed for the Whisky Rover guillotine, where each bottle is placed upon the block and opened for the masses. The judgement is final and it’s my personal opinion. This year the scallywag of Tomatin has been dragged onto the stage along with the refined (and ultimately shallow) exterior of gentleman from Balvenie. These two individuals will come under more scrutiny for the remainder of the year.
Tomatin 11 year old Oloroso Cask -review
Cost £80
Conclusions
A meal in itself. This is a bold Tomatin that will find favour with sherry enthusiasts. I enjoyed it, very much so, but has that end of the evening feel to it and not one I could drink too much of in one sitting.
Tomatin 14 year old PX Cask – review
Conclusions
This Pedro Ximenez cask isn’t bold or huge. Far removed from the Oloroso cask, I quite enjoyed it. This is a sherry bottling you could drink at any time and in any quantity. Very elegant.
The Tomatin 14 PX seems very much like a Tomatin that was bottled for a local wine store in the form of a single cask 2002 PX finished cask strength (55.1%alc.) that was bottled in 2015, effectively making it a 13 year old. Again, like the 14 PX the sweet sherry is very much there but more subtle than bold. With this one I found a small splash of water was required to bring out its best.