Tomatin 8 Years Old 2008 11.32 Cirque De Saveur (61.6%, SMWS, Bourbon Barrel, 252 Bottles, 2016)

• Category: Highland single malt Scotch Whisky
• Origin: Tomatin Distillery
• Bottling: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
• ABV: 61.6%
• Cost: £48 sold out shop for similar at SMWS

What They say:

Cask No. 11.32

An acrobatic spectacular, as fresh and vibrant aromas of cut grass, pomegranate and soft peach danced in the air high above us. Down below at audience level sweet butter pastry, spicy cardamom and Werther’s Originals provided the ringside entertainment. Then a sensational demonstration of salted toffee and cinnamon with a curious note of freshly cleaned woolly jumper with floral hints from the washing powder. Following a lively and exuberant burst of new wood the grand finale featured very dark chocolate and sticky toffee pudding as our senses jumped to their feet for a rapturous standing ovation.

DRINKING TIP: A post-show celebration.

Date Distilled: 6 June 2008  Age: 8 years  Cask Type: 1st Fill ex-bourbon barrel Whisky Region: Highland Outturn:  252 bottles

What I say:

Another box ticked! It has been a while since we have regularly sampled SMWS offerings but I still keep my eye open for bottles from distillery codes that we haven’t tried. This Tomatin (SMWS distillery code 11) was released late 2016 and so I snagged a little to try. There is great debate at the moment as to whether many of the distillery codes in the SMWS list still have any respective casks in storage i.e. they may never or are incredibly unlikely to release anything from them again? Making my quest of sampling every code even more difficult! Still nobody said this was going to be easy 😀

Appearance:

Dark antique gold (8/20), slow fine tears with fine legs

Nose:

Sweet and spiced, rich fruit, citurs lemon and lime, spiced cinnamon and pepper, cloying honey & golden syrup sweetness, slightly spirit, vanilla, cereal barley grist, after breathing for a while strong vanilla cream

Taste:

Fruity & very ripe banana, vanilla cream, banana split dessert with honey and salted caramel sauce, mixed crushed nuts with the honey and syrup lingering

Finish:

Long, banana, golden syrup & vanilla cram, hint of bubblegum

Overall:

A delicious 1st fill bourbon expression redolent of sweet banana split desserts and all the usual accompaniments, a real dessert of a dram.

Score: 86/100

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