Tomintoul

Tomintoul-Distillery

History It was founded in 1964 by the Glasgow whisky traders Hey & Macleod and W. and S. Strong, which set up a working company, Tomintoul Distillery Ltd. Production, to manage the distillery. At its founding the distillery had one wash still and one spirit still. The distillery was bought by Scottish and Universal Investment Trust in 1973 which doubled the production capacity by placing an extra pair of steam heated stills in the next year. That year, the distilleries 10 year anniversary, they also released the first bottling of their malt. Scottish and Universal was sold on to Whyte & Mackay (which was owned by Brent Walker) in 1989. Whyte & Mackay itself was bought by American Brands in 1990, and in the same year, Tomintoul started selling a 12-year-old bottling of its malt in a distinctively styled bottle. The distillery itself was sold off to Angus Dundee in 2000, and under their management, the official bottling became the 10-year-old malt, sold in more conventional bottles. The official bottling portfolio expanded in the next years, with a 16-year-old malt in 2003 and a 27-year-old malt in 2004. A year later in 2005 a 1991 peaty vintage was released under the name ‘Old Ballantruan’, bottled at 50% ABV, followed by 12 year old finished on Oloroso butts, a vatting of unpeated and peated Tomintoul malts under the name ‘Peaty Tang’, and a 1976 vintage, all released around 2008. Tomintoul has two wash and two spirit stills, which are all steam heated, and have a total capacity of producing 3,300,000 litres of pure alcohol per year. It uses eight stainless steel washbacks, 4 larger and 4 smaller. The water it uses for its whisky comes from the Ballantruan source. Cooling water is drawn from two nearby ponds.

The Whiskyphiles tasting notes

Official Bottling
  • OldBallantruan_NAS Old Ballantruan (2014) - Old Ballantruan ‘The Peated Malt’ ~ 50% (Angus Dundee Distillers) Peated Speyside single malt scotch whisky 50% ABV, £36.95 Score: 83/100 What they say: “Old Ballantruan” owes its name to an exceptional […]
  • tomintoul-10-year-old-whisky Tomintoul 10 Years Old (2013) - This is a very smooth, sweet and pleasing Speyside single malt which is very enjoyable. It is mildly complex with lots of toffee and cereal flavours which are very complimentary making this a hugely easy drinker. 70/100
  • tomintoul-12-year-old-portwood-finish-whisky Tomintoul 12 Year Old Portwood Finish (2015) - Slightly unusual this one, not as sweet and jammy as I was hoping. There was a slightly chalky and salty note in here that I couldn't shake off the association with shellfish meat (albeit nice and sweet). The port finishing was a little light for my liking and had introduced, or was masking a slightly unusual flavour profile of zesty spice and brine. 81/100
Independent Bottling
Hunter laing
  • Tomintoul 25 year old 1989 single malt scotch whisky Hunter Laing Old Malt Cask 11217 Tomintoul 25 Years Old 1989 Old Malt Cask (2021) - 'Old school' spirit led and refill cask influence, quite green and tropical with some metallic notes present still after 25 years, speaks volumes about Tomintoul's spirit with a hint of tropicality thanks to its age.
Lady of the Glen
  • lady-of-the-glen-logo Tomintoul 15 Years Old 2005 Amontillado Finish (2020) - Tomintoul 15 Years Old 2005 Amontillado Finish Whisky Review: A much more delicate dram than the Dailuaine, more typically speyside and slightly more typically sherried here also. Leather and sun-dried fruits combine with plenty of orange zest and hazelnut. 88/100