Origin: Highlands (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 43%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon and Virgin
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Takara Shuzo Corp.
Average price: € 30.00
Official website: www.tomatin.com
Vote: 83/100
Do you ever get déjà-vu? If you are a loyal follower of this blog (and of course you are), you’ll feel as if you have already read a similar article, and you wouldn’t be wrong: I have already talked about this Tomatin whisky in December 2020 (you can read about it here).
Why then write another one?
The Legacy is considered by many to be an entry-level of great quality, and more than a few people were surprised at the low rating I gave it at the time.
Given that that article was written on the basis of a miniature (and not a sample), which are often not very reliable with respect to the preservation of the distillate, and given that one of the most convinced supporters of this bottling has seen fit to make me a gift of a bottle to let me taste it to the best of its ability… well, who am I to ignore the will of the people?
Maybe I’ll change my mind, maybe I won’t: the beauty of whisky is precisely our relationship with the contents of the glass, changing over time.
Tasting notes
The nose is a fruity explosion, with peach, apple, pear and pineapple resonating strongly in the nostrils, accompanied by faint spicy veins of cinnamon and nutmeg. But there’s more than just fruit, notes of shortbread, caramel, freshly cut wood and a subtle metallic streak emerge in a short time. Fresh and full.
The freshness returns to the palate, where the fruit becomes more tropical with a greater incidence of pineapple in the company of a touch of lime and mango, to which floral and herbaceous reminiscences are added, especially along the length. The spicy notes become more present, including black pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg, on a rather light (and drinkable) body where the alcohol is perhaps more exuberant than expected. Pear and (syrupy) peach come alive again in the second half, with cream ice cream, punctuated by green tea, liquorice root and a faint balsamic note.
Medium-length finish where the herbaceous nature tends to prevail, with spicy hints over fruit and vanilla.
Simple without being banal, with a more opulent nose than the palate, which for the price level at which it’s offered and by its very nature is excellent for a carefree and dangerously copious drinking.
Re-reading what I wrote at the time, I recognise the points in common and the absence of those heavy harshnesses that had caused me to crush it: if it still needs repeating, these articles are not and do not want to be sentences, but simple collections of thoughts and sensations which, as such, are ephemeral and very personal, and can change over time.
And this is also the strength and richness of whisky.