Tomatin Cask Strength Edition – NAS – 57.5% abv

Info: Matured in a combination of Bourbon and Oloroso Sherry Casks, this is a permanent edition to Tomatin’s range. More info on SWB here.
Colour: Fully ripened straw to light gold.
Nose: Toffee pennies (toffee sweets) with light malt notes and a puff of cask char. Slightly spicy with a bit of a bite from the high alcohol. Some classic Tomatin notes, but all turned up a notch.
Palate: Toffee malt hits your palate straight away, followed by slightly hot spirit because of the high abv, it’s spicy but sweet with some good oak notes and some sherry fruits and nuts. You soon become fairly accustomed to the strength which leaves you with fairly thick oils on your tongue.
Finish: Warming but quickly subsiding into a long malty finish with a nice sweet but restrained oloroso sherry influence.
Water: This dram can take a fair drop of water, it helps smooth out some of the high abv and spices, and brings out a more nutty tone. It’s much smoother on the palate, and in my mind it really helps to make the dram sing and become much more accessible and enjoyable, it opens it up bringing out the sherry influence more readily.
Thoughts: A fun, full strength Tomatin… It’s a belter, but just as much as it’s strong, it’s also refined and enjoyable. Nice! For me, it needs a good glug of water to bring it out of its shell… Nothing wrong with that, it makes your money / dram go much further.
Available: The Whisky Exchange – £49.95

Thanks to Tomain for the sample.