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Tomatin 25 Year Old 1995 (cask 13909) - Old Particular

Writer's picture: S&PS&P

Alright. Last review of the Douglas Laing - Craft Cellars tasting from a couple weeks ago. This was the 3rd scotch in the tasting, but I saved it, because, in my tastebud folders, it's the clear winner.


Tomatin 25 1995, bourbon barrel (the only one in this tasting that wasn't sherried), 55% ABV. $610 CAD.


Sniffing:


Apple pie, baking spices. There's something wild in there too. Cedar, oak forest. A deep forest aroma, far from civilization.


Cheers!


What an adventure. It goes in the same as the nose with apple pie/baking spices, and then it turns resinous, cedar, pine, oaky. A very complex but gentle bitterness. And that finish! It's a kind of burnt butterscotch, burnt pie. The burps on this are phenomenal. Crazy finish, crazy development. There's a great spice overarching this as well, and a backgrounded herbal flavor after the apple pie comes through.


Review: this scotch takes me through the life of an apple in 2 seconds. From the pasty resinous unripened apple, to the fallen half rotten trodden on apple, and everything in between. There's a wildness to this too with all the forest odors and flavors that are poking out their heads throughout this experience. Love it. Leaving a 94 on here for posterity.


Overall: This was my first introduction to Douglas Laing, and what an intro. One theme I noticed about these more expensive bottles is the ability these scotches have to really morph from the nose to the finish. Even the Longmorn and Bowmore which I was less impressed with still had this dynamism to it. If you had asked my expectations ahead of the tasting I would've put the Tomatin at the very bottom. My experience with this distillery has been mellow scotches all hovering around the average, but this highlighted some potential I didn't know about, and it was a pleasant surprise.


Cheers :)

Simon from the S&P Crew.

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