Tomatin Tasting Notes

Aroma: Golden syrup and honey. Lemon & lime. Almond and macadamia nuts, vanilla and custard.

Palate: Sweet vanilla custard and lemon sponge. Pineapple chunks, raspberries and icing sugar.

Finish: Sweet, fresh and mellow.

Tasting Notes:
Nose: It starts with a slightly artificial, perfumed nose, which amazes me a little, but then settles and clears the way for pleasant citrus notes, limes and apples, and also a yeast-like sound mixes under. In addition, then honey, a little vanilla and powdered sugar, which is already everything, a little "little" that so old barrels have flowed into this bottling.
Mouth: Quite intense and surprisingly powerful for the 46% vol, lots of coconut, vanilla, with a short sweet tip, but then quite harsh, floral, with cocoa, caramel and herbs. The mouthfeel seems somehow unbalanced and a little "harsh", as they say in English so nicely.
Finish: Although with a certain residual sweetness, but with a focus on tart and slightly bitter notes.
Conclusion: Even if I prefer Tomatin rather the Bourbon keg maturation, it has not rudimentary as good as the sherry keg variant. This malt seems to me clearly unbalanced and especially not nearly as complex as I would have liked. The young barrels have the upper hand and the old go under, or were possibly drained and weak. https://whiskycuse.wordpress.com/

Note by Serge Valentin from whiskyfun.com:

Tomatin 'Contrast Bourbon Matured' (46%, OB, 5,400 bottles, 2016)  Ha-ha! The labels smartly states the various vintages that have been used, that is to say 1973, 1977, 1988, 1991, 2002 and 2006. A genuine multi-vintage bottling, like J.M do in rhum agricole. I think that would be even better with the proportions, having said that, or we’d always ‘feel’ that there’s much more 2006 than 1973. Or that there are only drops of 1973. But anyway, lets taste it… Colour: straw. Nose: fresh and crystalline, with pears, oranges, and pineapples on a bed of cut grass and a moderate vanillaness. Gooseberries. Love this purity, very well done so far. Mouth: indeed. Rather apples than pears this time, some angelica, more gooseberries, peaches, touches of pineapples again, and just drops of lemon juice. Frankly, this tastes pretty young, but it’s rather immaculate. I cannot not think of some dry chenin blanc from the Loire Valley. Good body, perfect strength. Finish: medium, not exactly zesty, but pure and fresh. Same kinds of fruits, with a grassier signature. Comments: oh this is smart! It’s going to be a must when temperatures rise, in a few weeks.SGP:551 - 87 points.

Contrast

Last summer Tomatin launched a limited release of 5.400 sets of 2 different vattings: bourbon and sherry. The half bottles are composed from casks from 1973, 1977, 1988, 1991, 2002 and 2006. That way, we can discover the difference of wood maturations in all its glory.

The Tomatin bourbon is light and accessible on the nose, with touches of tropical fruit. Think gooseberry, pineapple and some eucalyptus. Quite some banana. Nothing earth shattering, but textbook Tomatin. The Tomatin sherry, however, is more timid and somewhat dirty. I get some toffee, brown sugar and rum raisins, but also some earthy notes and something that reminds me of yoghurt. The Tomatin sherry is my preferred one. 0-1 for the sherry, although both are very good.

The Tomatin bourbon is softly spiced, but does enjoy a nice complexity of creamy vanilla, white fruit and spices. Loads of oak, it has to be said. The banana is very present on the palate. The Tomatin sherry lacks the creaminess of the bourbon, but makes up for that with a huge spiciness. Plums and raisins are supported by some woodsmoke and loads of spices. Think pepper, nutmeg and cloves. However, I did prefer the bouron, which makes it a tie: 1-1.

The finish on the Tomatin bourbon is medium long and mildly drying, but lovely warm. The finish of the Tomatin sherry is long and warm, but with a bitter edge towards the end, which I did not expect, knowing that it was all first fill oloroso sherry casks. 2-1 for the bourbon release.

I really quite like the bourbon version, which suits Tomatin well, but they are very close. Of course, it is not a match. Both whisky’s perform considerably well. A set will cost 140 EUR. Thanks, Sjoerd, for the samples.

85/100 for the Tomatin bourbon
84/100 for the Tomatin sherry

Aroma: Golden syrup and honey. Lemon and lime. Almonds and macadamia nuts, vanilla and vanilla cream. Taste: Sweet vanilla cream and lemon biscuit. Pineapple pieces, raspberries and powdered sugar. In the end sweet, fresh and soft.

Sold as a set together with the Sherry matured for £100