A cat-lobster hanging on to a bottle of Scotch - this is the sort of stuff that gets you noticed! And that's at least in part what the Thompson Bros up at Dornoch Distillery have done to get themselves on the radar - having only been up for a couple of years, they've already amassed quite the following (us at 88 Bamboo included).

| Read: Why Indie Bottling Must Be Reinvented: Chatting with Thompson Bros of Dornoch

Of course, their steady stream of awesome independent bottlings help too (which are so popular you've got to ballot for them, but fret not, there's a ballot every two weeks or so), while they gradually get their own bottlings up.

It's a really smart move, quite frankly. Rather than simply put out gins, vodkas, and even new makes, which by the way, the Thompson Bros make a mean award-winning Mediterranean Gin, they've certainly solidified their fanbase by sharing their access to good quality casks with would-be fans.

If you're not from around the area, it's really not easy to get good pickings of casks even if you'd be willing to shell out - you're not the only one knocking on their cellar doors, after all. But the Thompson Bros, Simon and Phil, have a pretty good relationship with the other distillers, so that certainly helps.

All of which eventually paves the way for them to wait out making their very own whiskies under the Dornoch Distillery banner, which we've already gotten to try a couple of!

I just hope that when they've gotten their distillery properly and fully off the ground, they continue to put out the good stuff (with the cute labels by Whisky Hobo - whom we got to interview here) from their Thompson Bros independent bottling side of things.

| Read: How a “Hobo” became a Beloved Whisky Label Artist from Scotland to Japan: Fireside chat with Andrew Soetiono (Whiskyhobo)

And with that, today we've got a very well-aged 32 Year Old, 1990 Islay Scotch - shhh... it's probably a Laphroaig.

Thompson Bros Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 1990, 32 Years Old, 49.3% ABV - Review

Tasting Notes

Color: Gold

Aroma: It starts off already medicinal, but very gentle, a whiff of iodine, but also honeyed, almost a little syrupy, with more on seaspray and brine. Very gentle bits of yellow fruit - mangoes, apricots and alittle bit of jackfruit.

Taste: It's still predominantly medicinal here - the iodine, herbaceousness, cough syrup, with cigarette ash. It's quite powerful but does let up into more of a grassiness, sea spray, freshly harvested seaweed, and alittle bit more on melted butter. There's bits of lemon zest and chalk as well. Overall, it's still mostly medicinal but it does get alittle bit sweeter and more coastal, but with a nice syrupy texture.

Finish: It's alittle bit short here (although this was the tail-end of the bottle so I suspect it might have lost some of its oomph), but does deliver most honey and maltose candy, with more on smoked ham with peppercorns.

My Thoughts

This was very much textbook old-school Islay - and quite a reflection of Islay honestly - it really made me feel as if I was on the island itself, all the elements of Islay were conveyed from aromas to finish, quite wonderful really. 

While it leans more towards the medicinal side, and I'm not sure how much of it has let up because this was the tail end of the bottle, it wasn't overwhelming and didn't bulldoze everything else or get too bitter. 

I was quite appreciative to get to try this at a get-together, but it did make me wonder what a freshly opened bottle of this might be like - I suspect it might be quite spectacular, given that even towards the end, you could still very much tell this was fantastic even though it's definitely lost some strength.

Fantastic stuff! A great reflection of Islay! 

Keep a watch out for more good drops from the Thompson Bros at their site here, they've got new drops every other week, but you've gotta sign up to their email!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot