Origin: Highlands (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Gradation: 46%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon re-charred
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Takara Shuzo Corp.
Average price: € 69.00
Official website: www.tomatin.com
Vote: 84/100
A whisky dedicated to each of the five elements at the heart of Tomatin’s distillate: that is the idea behind the Five Virtues series, of which this bottle is a part.
Water, Metal, Earth, Wood and Fire – the virtues of modern civilisation that come together to create the whisky of the Highland distillery.
In honour of this 2017 limited edition (6,000 pieces per bottling), artist Eva Ullrich created five works inspired by whisky making.
This bottle, dedicated to fire, refers to the procedure of re-carbonising the casks before maturing the distillate in them.
Tasting notes
Light gold in the glass.
Dates, plums, dried fruit (walnuts and hazelnuts), caramel, vanilla and honey greet the nose, with a splash of lemon refreshing the olfactory profile. Soft waxy imprint in the background. Simple but pleasant.
Spicy and peppery on the palate, with a marked liveliness, it offers itself with more dried fruit, cinnamon, cooked apples, liquorice, salted caramel. Woodwork in the background. The aromas are not complex but well-defined, clear-cut.
The finish is moderately long and dry, with hazelnuts, nutmeg, apples and wood.
Not particularly complex but strong, the re-charring of the casks has made the aromas more incisive and well-defined, making themselves felt on the nose as well as on the palate without much ado, showing more personality than distillates with more layers on paper.