Whisky : Tomintoul 7 Year SMWS 89.13 “Freshly-baked multiverse”

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 64.3%

Cask : First Fill Ex-Bourbon Hogshead

Age : 7 Year (Distilled 17 Sept. 2012)

Nose : Salt, malt, and spice.  Freshly baked pretzels and Montreal-style bagels came to mind with a heady scent of salty malty baked and boiled pastries.  Spicy and slightly spirited background of black pepper, chili, and bitter orange.  A few drops of water brought out toasted oak, walnuts, and a hint of cola.

Palate : Medium-bodied and tannic with sweet notes of wood, stone fruits, and hints of cream.  Sweet and tannic this was loaded with molasses, oaky vanilla, and oaky astringency.  Hints of orange came through a very tight profile with malty-salty pretzels.  Cherry pits and stone fruits came through at the end while water brought out more bitter orange. 

Finish : Lingering orange sugars and tannic dryness.

Score : 4

Mental Image : Woodpecker’s Delight

Notes : This was a bit weird— I loved the name, I did not hate the dram, but honestly I would never reach for this.  IT reminded me a lot of Balcones but without some of the stronger cola notes.  I was surprised just how tannic and oaky that this Tomintoul was after only seven years.  If I had gone into this blind, I am almost sure I would have pegged this as an American single malt that had spent a few years too many in a new oak barrel.

This dram was enjoyable to share, but it was not the sort of dram I keep at home.  I do love a lot of the younger bottles SMWS puts out— especially Glenburgie and of course Glenturret and similar peated ones that are best served under a decade old in my opinion.  I am not sure this would have appealed to me more with more time in the cask.

Overall, we included this in a local tasting a while ago because of the name alone.  It was not a bad bottle by any measure, but it was not really my style.  I have a suspicion that bourbon drinkers might actually find more to love here between some of the oaky vanilla and molasses notes that reminded me of new oak.