Tomatin 36, First Fill Spanish Oloroso Sherry Butts & Traditional Oak Casks, Bottle no. 510/800, 46% abv.

I am not sure which batch this is from, but I woule assume batch 3 or 4. Tomatin used to be Scotland's largest distillery, at one point housing 23 stills... but supposedly all 23 were never in operation simultaneously. The distillery was founded in 1897, but went under in 1906, only to return in 1909 and then go under again in 1985. Takara Shuzo and Okura & Co. form Tomatin Distillery Company to buy out Tomatin in 1986, making it the first Scottish distillery to be owned by a Japanese organization. They would later purchase the owners of famous blend Antiquary in 1997. In 1998, Okura & Co. goes under and sells it's stake to Takara Shuzo and Marubeni Corp.

Nose: BBQ sauce.

Palate: dry, light bodied, starts by building up a potent sherry spice and then a bitterness pops up, back palate has a bitter linger which converts to sweet vanilla temporarily. The only hardcore sherry influence seems to be the dryness and that initial spice build up.

Finish: short to medium, hints of wood, light chocolate, hints of wet old steamed lotus leaves.

Dry glass: slightly fruity, a little perfum-ic initially, but mellows to wax.

For a 36 year old Oloroso matured scotch, it's pretty mellow. Very light. So sad that the sherry had such a minimal influence. Not sure if it's the Tomatin original juice that's holding it back or perhaps the reduction to 46% that ruined it. Noticing Tomatin after 1980s is soooo different from Tomatin in the 1970s.

Grade: C

Whiskyfun.com, Angus MacRaild, sgp:761, 91 points for batch 3
Whiskynotes, Ruben Luyten, 91/100 for batch 2
Whisky advocate, Gavin Smith, 88 points for batch 1

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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