Distillery: Tomintoul Distillery
Proof: 80
Age: NAS
Mashbill: 100% Malted Barley
BACKGROUND: Tomintoul Distillery was founded in 1964 in Ballindalloch, Scotland which is in the in the Speyside region; also where Glenlivet and Glenfiddich are located. Tomintoul was founded by Glasgow whisky traders Hey & Macleod and W. and S. Strong. The Distillery is located inside the Glenlivet estate, and was named after the nearby village of Tomintoul which is the highest village in the Highlands of Scotland. Tomintoul's master distiller Robert Fleming is a fourth generation distiller whose family has been making whisky in the Speyside Glenlivet region for four generations. Tomintoul has a wide breadth of whisky in their portfolio ranging from 10 to 40 years old and with different malts and finishes. This whisky, is a single peated malt scotch whisky made with a peated malt barley which, as Tomintoul says: "... give it a deep smoky flavour. This makes “Peaty Tang” very unusual, most distilleries in the Speyside region do not use peat."
NOSE: Dark peat notes dominate this one with strong smokey scents, fresh pine, charred wood, rotten fruit, hay, tangy copper and lemon zest. It is quite a strong and tangy nose that left us feeling inquisitive into how the whisky would taste. What was at first was a shock to the nose became an inviting and smooth earthy nose. (21/25)
PALATE: With peat notes dominating this one it was a fun challenge to pull other notes. I was able to take away some notes of wood ash, molasses, black pepper, dry oak, barley, and salted toffee. It was very unique and a rude awakening to heavy peat whisky. Overall, this was a very enjoyable whisky with strong peat notes. Ashy wood and smoke dominate this one! (33/40)
FINISH: The finish is very dry and woody. It also has some notes of copper and lemon zest. (21/25)
VALUE: With a $50 SRP this is a unique whisky that we would recommend trying before buying given the strong peat notes. If you are a fan of heavy peated whisky this is for you! (7/10)
Overall: 75/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: Tomintoul Speyside Glenlivet Peaty Tang is a unique and flavorful whisky. The dark peat and wood notes dominate this one along with some sweeter earthy notes playing around in the background. We recommend trying this one at a bar before buying yourself a bottle as the peat notes may be overpowering for some. However, if you are a fan of heavy peat notes then this is for you!
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Ardbeg Corryvreckan
Similar & Equal Whiskey: Laphroaig 10 year old Cask Strength
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Balcones Peated Single Malt
Tell us what you think and give us some feedback!
Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Near perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
Below 50: Give away
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